Isolation
by Yassen275
Summary: It has been four months since the battle at the Adams Airforce Base and Peregrine "Perry" Neeson has promises to keep, jobs to be done. This is the story of his wonderings, his revelations and the crushing dread of feeling truly alone.
1. Around The Campfire

The sun stretched its rosy red fingers across the barren wasteland. There was a time where its life-giving warmth would have opened the pedals of flowers and brought the animals of the wild back from the realms of their dreams. This land, this planet was alive once. But from its womb, the planet gave birth to the craftsmen of its own destruction. Betrayed by her uncaring children, the world was bathed in nuclear fire. But that was not the end. Nothing ever ends.

Since humanity was born, men have attempted to control all around them… even other people. What man could not control, they destroyed. Such was their nature. The people they could not turn, they killed. This self-destructive nature reached it's apex in the year 2077, China and America were in a stalemate. Neither able to dominate the other. No one knows who fired first, but by then it didn't matter.

Humanity persevered. People are stubborn like that. They try to make a new world for themselves; others try to rebuild it the way it used to be.

The Lone Wanderer sat besides the dwindling fire as the sun rose over the horizon. He couldn't sleep. For so long he always knew what he was going to do next, what lay in store for him. Now… he was truly lost. He never really liked the name the citizens of the Capitol Wasteland gave him, but it seemed to suit him. Wandering was all he did now. Where was he going? What was he doing? These were questions that were asked again and again over the radio. Even he didn't know.

Peregrine "Perry" Neeson, otherwise known as The Lone Wanderer to the people of the wasteland, sat in silence as he stared into the dying fire. There was a majestic beauty in such a simple thing. The flame was completely unpredictable, turning and twisting in every direction; never resting. It brought light and warmth to those around it. It was soothing.

Perry contemplated the last several months. So much has changed: the escape from the vault, the hunt for his father, the purifier, the Enclave. Things just seemed to happen around him. Or maybe he just had a talent for turning up at the right times. It's been four months since that event at the Adams Air Force Base. Since then the Enclave had all but vanished. Repairs are under way for Liberty Prime, raider activity has dropped dramatically and now word has spread that Elder Lyons is investigating a way to wipe out the Super Mutants since Perry informed him where they were coming from.

Compared to a year ago, the Capitol Wasteland was in better shape than it's ever been. There were still problems of course. Nothing ever ends after all. That was what Perry had convinced himself he was doing. Now that the major issues are no longer a problem he could work to fix the little ones. Well… little in comparison.

Perry wore T-51b Power Armour, his helmet was resting beside him; it was uncomfortable and obscured his vision. Right now, he just wanted a rest. Although sitting in this armour wasn't very comfortable to begin with but it was too much of a pain to take off completely. In front of him lay Ol' Painless, a hunting rifle he received after rigging the election at the Republic of Dave. It wasn't very democratic to rig an election but Dave was not a leader; he was a tyrant and needed to be removed. Since then Perry had made a few personal modifications to the rifle, it was a stunning gun to be sure but it wasn't perfect.

Along with Ol' Painless was the Blackhawk, a scoped .44 magnum he received from Agatha. Again, it had been many years since this beautiful firearm was used so it needed some touching up but besides that there wasn't much he could do. He still tuned in to Agatha's music over the radio and would visit her whenever he was in the area. She never received much company besides the occasional trader. She had asked Perry to keep an eye out for someone who has an ear for music. Agatha was looking for students to train so her art doesn't die. So far, he has been unsuccessful.

Perry picked up the combat shotgun he "acquired" from a raider base. He examined the words "The Terrible Shotgun" etched into the wood, musing at the irony. This was no doubt the most flawless shotgun he had ever laid eyes on. Its previous owner clearly took great care of it. There was literally nothing Perry could do to make this shotgun any more deadly or efficient besides keep it clean. He wondered why the owner still decided to call it "terrible", maybe when he found it the gun was no more deadly than a teddy bear but decided to see how much he could repair it.

Perry smirked.

_Even a teddy bear can end up being deadly when used properly. A few raiders who were on the receiving end of my rock-it launcher can confirm that. _

Perry chuckled at the memories. Carefully placing the shotgun back beside its companions, he then ran his finger over the largest weapon in his arsenal, the Tesla Cannon. It was enormous and probably the most cumbersome weapon he ever used. But the amount of times it has saved his ass and the personal admiration he had of Nikolai Tesla forced him to keep it with him. People often asked him why he carried it around and why he would want to deal with the inconvenience, replying by simply firing the weapon at a boulder and smirking at the stunned look on the persons face. Besides, its ammo usage was much more conservative than the Gatling Laser; there were only so many charge packs he could carry around.

Finally he picked up the most dangerous and mysterious weapon in his collection; the Alien Blaster. Its appearance was so misleading at first; it looked no more dangerous than a water gun. The moment he tried it on a Yao Guai though he made sure to never use it lightly. He only found a small amount of ammunition at the crash site, and even less on the alien ship itself when it abducted him. He never showed this weapon to anyone, even keeping it a secret from the Brotherhood. It mustn't fall into the wrong hands; even if they had good intentions.

Being extremely careful placing the weapon back on the ground, Perry admired the arsenal he had built over the months. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride; the weapons were like trophies of his accomplishments. Except these trophies could do more than sit on his shelf. These weren't the only ones though, Perry kept the rest of his weapons and trophies back at his home in Megaton. He actually had a few people in town asking if they could come in and see them.

Perry remembered though what these trophies stood for besides his swelling ego; they were a symbol of change. Proof that in this messed up world of theirs there were people willing to stand up and make a difference. They represented hope.

And yet…

Perry looked up over the Wasteland and in the distance saw a deserted, wrecked home. Hanging from a wall was a man who had been tortured, burned, stabbed and mangled for some sick raider's pleasure before finally being allowed to die. This victim's bloodied corpse brought reality crashing back down.

People will never change.

In this world where refusing to listen, refusing to work together brought the planet to its knees; the descendants of those men still haven't learnt their ancestor's lesson. People still fight for control, for power. They kill for scraps of food and droplets of water.

In a world where what we need more than anything is to work together…

We won't.

In a world where we need to learn to let go of the past and strive for a new future…

We won't.

In a world where the greatest mistake in history has been made and our survival depends on learning from that mistake…

We won't.

Perry's heart turned cold. The optimism he felt mere moments ago vanished. He remembered Paradise Falls, the faces of the slaves as they lay in their cages; treated worse than animals. The sound of a young girl screaming for help behind a wall as some sick fuck raped her. The images of a desperate man fleeing for freedom only to have his head explode, robbing him of that chance… and his life.

At that moment, Perry could not think about how talking and education could make the world a better place. At that moment… all Perry could think about was how much those monsters deserved to die. He had made it quick for them; killed them in their sleep after they allowed him into the compound. They deserved worse, much worse.

Being in the Wasteland for so long, he thought he had grown used to such sights. But you never get used to that. Those moments mark you. Change you. Perry then remembered what he stood for. He was an icon to the people, an image of hope; a sign that things can change… a sign that things _will_ change. He needed to be strong, if not for them, then for himself.

The sun had finally risen high enough over the mountains to shine onto his face. He looked at the star for as long as possible before it began to hurt. Turning away and waiting for the dot in his vision to disappear, he picked up his helmet, attached the tubing and locked the helmet in place. The HUD blinked to life, bringing up details on his surroundings and the state of his armour. He might need to do some tinkering when he returns to Megaton.

Until then he had a job to do, promises to keep, men to kill. He will show kindness when he can, but there are other ways to help people besides just saving them. Remove evil from the world and you have made it a better place.

Perry paused.

He had taken so much evil out of the world. What good has he ever added to it? The purifier was his father's work. Doubt crept into his mind. What could he possibly add to the world to make it a better place? He chuckled at the result.

_A child. A strange moment to realise I want to have kids. Maybe some day I'll find someone I'm willing to marry. Until then, duty calls._

He followed his routine of attaching each of his weapons in order, first the Blackhawk on the left side of his waist, followed by the Alien Blaster on the right. He then attached the Terrible Shotgun to the magnet on his back, followed by Ol' Painless and finally the Tesla Cannon arranging them in a way he could reach any weapon easily. It was heavy but he had long gotten used to the weight, the power armour helped immensely in holding the burden.

Perry then set off North towards the Oasis, his first stop to fulfil a promise to an old friend.

* * *

**A/N: The world of Fallout has always fascinated me. It's the most cynical story you could ever imagine. But despite the horrors I can't help but love the feeling of traveling the wasteland on your own that you could get from the game and wanted to extend that into a story taking place after the main plot. I don't really have any plans for this story, so stay tuned and we'll both find out what I can come up with. **

**Comments and criticisms appreciated. **


	2. Lava In The Oasis

_Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot._ Walking for so long, your mind only focuses on the job at hand. _Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot._ Perry had his eyes on the ground in front of him, only thinking of the next step. _Left foot, right foo… urgh. Okay that's enough for a while._ Stopping for a break, Perry sat himself on a rock and basked in the sensation of his knees being granted temporary relief from the weight. Pulling his right arm up to his face, he examined on his Pip-Boy how far away he was from the Oasis. _Only another mile. _

Perry carried a large leather satchel that he hung from his left shoulder to carry spare ammunition, stimpacks, tools or any interesting items he found on his journey. Tucked away inside were the gifts he had for a very special tree. Rolling the satchel off his shoulder, Perry placed it on the ground in front of him and searched for them. Thankfully, none of them were damaged from the constant jutting around in the pouch. Breathing a sigh of relief, Perry closed the satchel and looked out into the distance, trying to find the mountain that protected the last bastion of plant life in the entire Wasteland. Harold and Bob might very well be the key to bringing plants back to the wastes. But to ensure this future, Harold had to live; which was the exact opposite of what he wanted. Perry still regretted his choice; he was condemning an innocent man to a horrible fate. Worst of all, he wasn't even treating him like a living thing. It was like Harold was simply a means to an ends and what he wanted didn't matter.

Perry had made a promise to Harold. He promised to visit Harold whenever he could to ensure he wasn't as bored as he would have been for the last thirty years. He also promised to bring anything interesting he found to keep Harold busy when he was away. He was extremely happy with his find. This was his way to make it up to Harold, to show that life won't be as bad as he thought it would be.

Now that Perry's breath was back, he threw the satchel over his shoulder and got up onto his feet. Bringing his Pip-Boy up to his face, Perry figured he would listen to some music for the rest of the way. Toying with the knobs, he eventually found the Galaxy News Radio channel. Three-Dog's voice rang loud from the speaker.

"What's up Capital Wasteland? Guess who it is? Go on, guess…. Have you figured it out yet? It's me, THREE-DOG! Your lord and master! As my first commandment, if thou ever-st see that Lone Wanderer passing by, thou shalt give him a hug and lavish kisses at his feet… nah just kidding, but be sure to thank him. We all owe him and his father a lot."

Perry shook his head, somehow he expected that even though Three-Dog was kidding, someone would try and do exactly that next time they saw him.

"As for the news, it looks like Megaton has decided to expand and plans to increase its boundaries. A big step for the little town, best of luck to you all! Our friends at the Brotherhood may have also finally found a way to exterminate the Super Mutants once and for all. How you ask? It beats the fuck out of me. But who cares? NO MORE SUPER MUTANTS BABY!" Perry could hear a few cheers coming from the Brotherhood guards stationed at GNR. He couldn't help but laugh. He'll still need to check up with Elder Lyons though, see what this plan of his actually was.

"You see kiddies? The Brotherhood gave us water and now they're wiping out the Super Mutants! Didn't I tell you these guys were our friends? 'But Three-Dog' I hear you asking, 'they took so long getting the job done.' Yes they did, but it's happening now, does it matter how long they took? In any case, it's good news all around. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get shitfaced with some Brotherhood buddies to celebrate. Here's some music to keep the rest of you happy."

Chuckling at Three-Dog's barefaced honesty, Perry set off again towards the Oasis. The song "Butcher Pete" started to play.

"_Hey everybody, did the news get around about a guy named Butcher Pete? Oh, Pete just flew into this town and he's chopping up all the women's meat."_

Perry liked this song, sure it was about serial killer who cut up his victims but it was so upbeat the lyrics just didn't bother him. He started timing his steps to the tune and even sung to the chorus.

"He's hacking and whacking and smacking. He's hacking and whacking and smacking. He's hacking and whacking and smacking. He just hacks, wacks, chopping that…" All of a sudden a flying, mutant insect appeared seemingly out of nowhere and attached itself to Perry's helmet, covering his face and obscuring his vision.

"ARGH WHAT THE FUCK!" Being caught off guard he stumbled backwards and fell. The insect had firmly attached itself to his face and was attempting to jam it's stinger into his chest. Luckily his Power Armour was protecting him but if the stinger found its way into the gaps between his plates, he was a dead man.

"_All you fellas gotta watch your wives 'cause Pete don't care whose meat he chop." _

Fumbling wildly at the attacker, he tried to get a firm grip on its body to pull it off.

"_Just cutting and chopping for miles around; single women, married women, old maids and all."_

The insect's wings were getting in the way and the little basterd refused to stay still. Finally gaining a hold of the insect's midsection, he tried in vain to yank it off but to no avail.

"_I don't see how he stays alive, meat's gonna be the death of old Pete yet."_

Knowing he couldn't remove the insect, he would need to simply kill it. But he couldn't see where his weapons were or reach the guns on his back. Trying to keep the insect as far away as possible, he figured out what he had to do.

'_But when they came to pay his bail, they found him chopping on his cellmate."_

Pushing the ground away with his legs he inched his way closer to his target as he held the insect back. Finally feeling the rock he sat on moments ago, he turned around and began smashing his head against the rock, feeling the insect crushing between him and the stone. The sound of a cracking carapace and spilt guts filled his ears but he kept going. Once the sound of stone impacting his own helmet greeted him he finally stopped. Breathing heavily, he looked down at the left over guts, legs and other body parts left smeared over the rock. His vision was blurry due to the bile on his visor.

"_Just hacks on anything he can get, say turn this record over you ain't heard nothing yet."_

Wiping his hand over his face to remove the bile, he couldn't help but smile. Then couldn't stop himself from laughing hysterically. _The Legendary Lone Wanderer was almost killed by a fucking insect. Man, that would have just been embarrassing… and incredibly ironic. _Chuckling to himself, he rose up; he was still picking insect pieces from his helmet. _Now I have to clean it. Fantastic. _Steadying himself, he tried to calm the fire in his veins. _Deep breathes… deep breathes. _With one final exhale he was calm again.

"What's up Masteland, tis me… Pee-Dog…. Pfft, haha I mean Three-Dog." The drunken DJ sounded again over the radio. Perry immediately shut it off, just wanting to be alone with his thoughts for a while. This little _event_ reminded Perry that even with the Enclave gone, the raiders on the run and the super mutants on the verge of defeat; there will always be danger. He had to stay alert. No room for complacency in the Capital Wasteland.

Making sure all his gear was still with him and Harold's gifts were undamaged, Perry set of again for the Oasis. He never dropped his guard. Never relaxed. Never faltered.

* * *

It wasn't much longer now before Perry would be entering the Oasis. He had noticed that the bushes and small trees that lined the path were starting to grow much further away from the entrance. _Guess that liniment really did the trick. _Lightly brushing his fingers against the leaves, he knew Harold was now aware of his presence. He had told Perry of his unique ability to "see" out of every leaf, being able to "feel" every branch. If Harold spread throughout the entire Wasteland, Perry wondered if he would truly become a God then, being able to see everything at once. Harold was indeed a miracle. _Albeit a miserable one, _he reminded himself.

He was now within view of the entrance; the guards were stationed there as they were when he last left. They raised their guns at Perry, realising they wouldn't recognise him with his helmet on.

"Halt! Leave this place immediately!"

"Wait, hold on a minute," Perry slowly detached the tubing of his helmet and removed it; the guards immediately lowered their weapons and apologised.

"Forgive us, Prophet. We did not know it was you returning to us. The Great One has been looking forward to your return," he said, humbly lowering his head.

"Excuse me, Prophet?"

"Yes, The Great One has expressed how important you are to fulfil his wishes, the only reason that could be, is if you were his Prophet."

These poor deluded people. Harold had once talked about them and how they "Hear but never listen," a very accurate analysis.

"Errr… right. Would I be able to see Him?"

"Of course, Prophet. Please go right ahead." Thanking the Treeminder, Perry continued on into the Oasis. The site of it still took his breathe away. In his entire life he had never seen so much green. The ground was so soft and the air was so pure. How could the people of the 21st century have not appreciated such beauty? The days when this paradise spreads to the wastes will be a marvellous time indeed. _If I'm alive to see it,_ he thought.

"Hey! You're back!" A small girl rushed towards Perry out of the trees and hugged him. Smiling, he hugged back.

"Hey Yew, how have you been?"

"I've been fine," the little girl said looking up at him. "Harold told me how he asked you to…" she looked around before leaning in and whispering, "Put him down. But I'm so glad you didn't! He's my only friend after all."

"I know Yew, I know. I'm actually going to talk with him now. I've got something to show him. If you want you can come with." The little girls face lit up.

"Really? What is it? Can you show me now?" Perry smiled at the girl's innocent eagerness.

"Not yet, but I'll need you to look after it while I'm gone so I'll show you how it works." Leaning on one knee, he motioned Yew to sit on his shoulder armour. She cautiously sat down as Perry lent a hand to support her. With Yew sitting on his shoulder like a parrot, they walked through the trees to Harold's grove.

"Hey what's this thing?" Perry could feel Yew turning around and examining the Tesla Cannon.

"Oh nothing, just something I picked up."

"Is it the surprise?"

"Wouldn't be much a surprise if it was on my back in plain sight now would it?" He brought his hand up and tickled Yew's sides.

"Ow! Stop that," she screamed between giggles.

Entering the grove, Perry and Yew walked around Harold's form and came into view of his face.

"Well, well, well if it isn't our old friend. Say hi to our friend Bob," he said in his usual slow tone. Perry leant down and allowed Yew off his shoulder.

"Hey Harold. Nice to see you and Bob again." Harold returned the greeting by coughing profusely.

"So what brings you back here after so long? Come to make sure I haven't died from boredom?"

"Hey! I've been keeping you company to, Harold," Yew interrupted.

"I know, I know. I appreciate it, believe me." Harold started coughing violently again. Perry was starting to wonder if there will ever be a time where Bob will grow so large that Harold can't even talk. If Perry was still alive then, he would be sure to put him out of his misery at that point.

"Actually your boredom is why I'm here. I promised you I'd find ways to keep you occupied when I'm gone. I think I found just the thing." Perry placed his satchel on the group and rummaged through his luggage until he found the books he was looking for.

"I found these books when I was investigating the old Arlington Library and figured you might enjoy them. I know you can't read them yourself, but maybe Yew could read them to you, if that'd be okay with her of course." Perry handed one of the books to Yew for her to examine.

"Well…. I can't read as well as some of the other Treeminders, but I'll be happy to learn for Harold," she answered cheerfully.

"Shucks, thankyou little one. You have no idea how much I'd like that; must have been fifty years since I last had a book read to me." Perry could just vaguely see a smile stretch across the mans face, or what's left of it.

"That's not all though. I know you'd be tired of looking in the same spot for thirty years, so I found something new for you to look at." Perry rummaged through his satchel again and pulled out a small, glass cylinder that was full of water. The lid and base was made of metal and on the bottom of the water was a blob of hard looking goo.

"What's that thing?" Yew asked, examining the cylinder.

"It's called a Lava Lamp. I found it in a safe of some old house in Washington, still works to. Just needs a bit of power." Perry placed the Lava Lamp on the ground in front of Harold and pulled out four charge packs from his satchel. Normally they'd be used for the Tesla Cannon but this was an exception. He placed the charge packs on the ground and unscrewed the bottom of the Lava Lamp. He pulled out the wires and using some of the tools in his satchel, attached the wires to the charges so they would run as the batteries. Placing the Lava Lamp back down in front of Harold, he flicked the switch. The light under the goo turned on but it would still take time for the goo to melt.

"Is that all it does?" Yew asked, clearly unimpressed.

"We'll just have to give it a few minutes. You'll see." Placing his weapons on the ground, Perry sat down next the lamp and watched. Yew did the same except was lying on her stomach, holding her head in her hands. Three minutes passed then eight, then twelve. Perry was starting to wonder if the goo simply won't melt and this was all a waste. Fifteen minutes passed, Yew yawned in boredom.

"This is as fun as watching the grass grow," Yew mumbled.

"Wait, wait… look." Perry pointed at the reddish goo as it slowly began to melt, a small portion of the goo broke away from the rest and began rising to the top. Harold eyes locked onto the Lamp in fascination. Yew leaned in closer as the goo fell back down. More and more began rising to the top, glowing in their heat and morphing with hypnotic movement. The three of them kept their eyes glued to the lamp.

"Woooow," Yew awed.

"Amazing isn't it?"

"You weren't kidding."

"What do you think Harold...? Harold?" Perry looked up at the tree and noticed his eyes wouldn't leave the lamp. Harold's mouth was open in awe… or at least it _looked_ like awe.

_Wait… was that a tear?_

"That… is the most… beautiful thing… I have ever seen. Thankyou… thankyou so much," he whispered.

_Oh great, now I'm tearing up to._

Trying his best to hold back the waterworks, Perry stood up and faced Harold at eye level.

"Harold… I'm sorry about what I did to you. But I hope this small trinket can remind you that life is still worth living. There is so much beauty in this Oasis and you have the potential to spread that beauty to the rest of the Wasteland. I just want to give the people of this Wasteland the same feeling of seeing beauty like you just experienced now… I hope you can understand. But I don't ever expect you to forgive me."

Harold's gaze left the lamp for the first time since it turned on. They began to study Perry, maybe trying to understand how something he has grown used to over the decades really is a miracle.

"It's okay," he finally said. "I understand. Now shut up and let me watch this."

Smirking, Perry sat down again and along with Harold and Yew, watched the small goo float lazily around the water; such a simple thing. But it's the simple things that are the most beautiful.

* * *

**A/N: Fallout 3 isn't known for it's moral subtlety, but the moment with Harold may be one of the most complex moral dilemmas in any game I've ever played. I had to spend something like ten minutes to make up my mind. It's these kind of choices that stick with you. Not "Do I return this kitten to the old lady or cut off the old ladies fingers for a necklace?" If only most game developers could realise the potential of our medium for moral complexity our industry might one day be classified as an art by the wider community. But enough of my rambling, I hope you're enjoying my little story. **

**Comments and criticisms appreciated. **


	3. Temptation In Paradise

Perry spent the next two nights at the Oasis. He enjoyed the peace and the sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind. But mostly it was because he wasn't sure when he would be visiting again and decided to make the most of the time he had. Perry spent the majority of his visit talking with Harold, asking questions of his long life. He seemed to have trouble remembering most of it, as if his time as a tree had slowly deteriorated his mind. Or maybe he was simply going mad, who knows. There were a few things Harold could recall that interested Perry though. He could vaguely recall meeting a man on the West Coast who was quite famous over there. The people labelled him "The Vault Dweller". Perry could remember reading something about this figure on a computer at The Brotherhood's Citadel. Apparently this man stopped a mutant invasion of the West Coast, saved his vault but was permanently banished regardless.

_Sounds familiar_, he thought to himself, remembering how the exact same thing happened to him.

Perry didn't just listen though, Harold and the rest of the Treeminders were curious about life on The Capital Wasteland. So Perry would share some of his adventures and how life was slowly getting better. When he mentioned the Enclave he noticed Harold staring into space, almost as if he knew the name. If he did, he didn't share his knowledge. Tree Father Birch seemed thrilled when Perry told him how raider activity was on a sharp decline; no doubt because he knew raiders were the biggest threat to Harold's existence. As depressing as it is, there are people in this world who would destroy this paradise for the fun of it. Perry had seen enough horrors to know that.

Finally, after two nights Perry decided he had to go.

"You'll visit us again right?" asked Yew, the youngest inhabitant of the Oasis.

"Of course, I have some things I need to take care of though. But when I can, I'll be sure to come back. I already have an idea what Harold's next gift should be."

"And what might THAT be?" Harold asked as he swivelled his only eye onto Perry.

"How does a radio sound? Bit of music should keep you entertained right?"

"HA! A radio he says, you hear that Herbert? Maybe with some music you can finally learn how to dance like you always wanted… oh don't be like that they were going to find out someday, don't be so embarrassed." Perry and Yew turned and smiled at each other, both entertaining the thought of a dancing tree.

"Fine, fine, you don't have to dance Bob, just thought you might want to try it is all. Don't mind him, he's just shy." Harold said addressing Perry again.

"Well if he does want to dance I'll be sure to give him some tips."

"I'm sure he'd like that… So long, and don't take ages to come back this time! These coots are boring me to tears."

Perry chuckled.

"I'll try Harold." Waving his goodbye, Perry walked out of Harold's grove and into the central garden. He shook hands with all the Treeminders and gave Yew one last hug before saying goodbye and leaving paradise behind him, stepping into a world that might one day be called Paradise to, thanks to a very special tree.

* * *

Perry's next stop was Paradise Falls, even though he had wiped out the slavers there with Eulogy Jones among them, he periodically visited the stronghold to make sure no one else tried to start the place up again. It would make sense for someone else to move in, at least until Perry could figure out what to do with it. A part of him wanted to torch the place, wipe it off the map. The things he saw there still haunted his memories but his rational side couldn't let such resources go to waste. He'll examine what's left and then think more on it.

As the giant, cheerful mascot of Paradise Falls came into view, marking the place that was once meant to be avoided at all cost, he took Blackhawk from his hip and examined the facility in the scope.

_Still looks deserted. No sign of any large scale scavenging or encampments. Better go in for a closer look. _

Perry cautiously approached the compound, keeping his ears open for any sounds of activity. He was within fifty metres of the entrance before he heard voices. Extracting a stealthboy from his satchel, he activated the device. Being almost completely invisible, he snuck past the barricades and could see two raiders standing at the door to the main compound arguing over something.

"Listen, I don't believe in any of your superstitious bullshit. Jones had it coming one day and that fucking goody-two-shoes was bound to stumble on this place eventually and wipe these fuckers out. We just need to be subtler, ya hear? Then he won't bother us." This was the male raider who seemed to be wearing protective metal armour. From what Perry could gather about raider culture, the one wearing the most protective gear was the leader. The female raider spoke next.

"You really think you can move into this place and no one will notice, Mike? No matter how subtle you _think_ you are, others will come by and when that happens _you-know-who_ will be back. Do you have any idea what he does to people like us? He wiped out Evergreen Mills AND killed the fucking BEHEMOTH those guys had caged up. You really want to risk getting _that_ fuckers attention?"

"I keep telling you when we get the rest of the boys from the caves here we'll be able to fight him off. What chance would he have against all of us holed up here?"

As the two continued to argue Perry made a note on his PipBoy about more raiders hiding in caves somewhere nearby. He'll need more information if he's going to find them though. No doubt this Mike would know if he's their leader. But he'll need him alive. He reached into his satchel and extracted a bottle of sedative he made for just such an occasion as this; he then used an empty stimpack to drain the sedative and slowly moved behind the armoured raider. One slow step at a time. He would only have one chance if he was going to get this guy alive.

"Peta, you've been a swell girl so far, helping me run the gang and all, but your arguing is really starting to piss me off. If you don't want to be _replaced_ I'd suggest shutting your fucking mouth like a good little girl."

"Fine. But don't come crying to me when _you-know-who_…" Peta noticed a faint shimmering figure right behind Mike. "What's that thing?"

"What thi-urck!" Mike stopped midsentence, his eyes wide open. He was motionless for a single moment before slowly closing his eyes and falling to the ground. As he landed, the shimmering figure glowed softly before transforming into the one thing Peta had hoped to never see in her life. The figure stood over Mike like a towering metal statue; cold, powerful and utterly terrifying. Frantically she took out her 10mm pistol and shot the figure in the chest five times. The bullets pathetically bounced off the metal and didn't even faze him. He turned to face her almost as if he only just noticed her presence. It was impossible to tell with that helmet on. He didn't even look human.

The figure took two steps towards her and slapped the gun from her shaking hands. The blow broke two of her fingers.

"ARGH! FUCK!" She collapsed onto her knees clutching her fingers. As the pain pulsed through her hand she looked up at the figure standing over her. He didn't move; only stared at her, almost like he was waiting for something.

"Please… please don't kill me. I… I'll do whatever you want. Do you want my caps? Or…or my weapons maybe?" The figure didn't move. There must be someway she can get out of this.

"Wait… wait I know, do you want me to suck you off? That's what you want isn't it?" He still didn't move. "Alright, I'll fuck you if that'll be enough to let me live. Any way you want for as long as you want… please, just let me go."

As the pathetic girl sat trying to bargain for her life Perry couldn't help but feel like maybe he should actually consider her offer. He's no stranger to sex, in their teenage years, Amata and Perry _experimented_ with each other but it has been a long time since his needs have been met. He was still human, he still had desires that he wanted satisfied. Why can't he have his basic drives expressed, he deserved it didn't he? But as the girl started crying at his feet, fumbling with the waist of his power armour trying to figure out how to take it off… he felt disgust. He shoved the girl away without a word. As she landed in the dirt, she turned and looked up at him with desperate confusion on her face.

It wasn't her he was disgusted with; it was himself for considering it. What would his father say if he knew he entertained such thoughts? This was a desperate girl terrified for her life when he had no intention of harming her anyway, and he was thinking of using her to satisfy his primal drives.

He felt sick.

Perry brought his hands up to his helmet and detached the tubing, taking the helmet off he stared at the girl with sympathetic eyes. She stared back, not sure what was going to happen.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He said as kindly as he could, hoping the girl would believe him.

"You just broke two of my fingers, bit fucking late to say that don't you think?" She wasn't expecting this. She had heard stories of this guy being the most ruthless raider killer the Capital Wasteland had ever seen… and he said he wasn't going to hurt her?

Perry knelt down beside the raider; she shrunk back not sure what he was going to do. He slowly held out a hand, motioning for her to give him hers. She didn't move. Sighing, Perry retracted his hand.

"Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but if I was going to kill you don't you think I would have done it already?" He had a point, and he also didn't seem to want anything from her. After all, he just turned down sex and that's pretty much what every man in this hell hole of a world wants. She cautiously offered her injured hand to Perry; he accepted and seemed to be examining her fingers.

"You'll be fine, bit of time and a single stimpack and your hand should be good as new. And look! Just so happens I have some stimpacks and bandages in my bag, as well as some morphine if you need it. Hmmm? Do you need it?"

Desperation overcame Peta, the pain was excruciating and the familiar sensation of Med-X would be a welcome reprieve.

"If you don't want anything I have and you don't want me to fuck you then why the fuck are you teasing painkillers in front of me?"

"Tell you what, I'll fix you up first and then we'll talk." Perry then extracted some Morphine from his satchel and injected it into the raider's wrist. The light feeling she knew so well returned in full force, this guy had some good suppliers! As all feeling left her arm she laid back onto the ground in ecstasy. Perry then worked to realign the bones in the girl's fingers, injected a stimpack to heal them and finally wrapped them in bandages to keep them in place. Once he was done, he lightly tapped the girl's cheeks.

She opened her eyes and noticed the bandages on her hand, realising he was done she slowly lifted herself up. Her head was still a bit light and fuzzy but she was so used to the feeling she could even fight like this.

"How does it feel?"

"You've got some good shit, where do you get this stuff?" Perry chuckled.

"I meant your hand, but if you must know I made it myself." Peta dizzily patted Perry on the shoulder not realizing that mere moments ago she was terrified he was going to kill her.

"Well good on you mate; I haven't had a high like this in years."

"Right… anyway give your hand a couple of days and it'll be fine." Her hand… oh shit her hand! He wanted something for this!

"OH right right, well you didn't just do this out of the kindness of your heart. What is this thing you want?" Perry leaned in closer, a dark sudden seriousness in his face.

"Where are the rest of you hiding?" The question hung in the air like a menacing cloud, overshadowing the sympathetic tone he had when he first took off his helmet. Peta was quiet for a minute as the question sunk in.

"…Why do you want to know?" Perry didn't move or make any sign of answering her question. He only stared with those eyes that seemed to suddenly darken with a seriousness that made Peta nervous, even in her drugged state. "You're going to kill them aren't you?"

"You know who I am?"

"Yes."

"Then that should answer your question."

Peta would be the first to admit she didn't make many friends among the raiders but she at least felt safe being on their side rather than their targets. Now she was being asked to betray them all for her own life. She was trying to decide but the drug was making it hard to think. Basterd.

"What about Mike and me? What will you do to us?"

"If you tell me, I'll let you go. I wouldn't suggest going home though. If you don't tell me, well…" Perry reached into his satchel and pulled out the ripper he kept to cut up mole-rats he hunted in the wastes. The cutting mechanism whirled in a loud, horrifying grind. Peta's eyes widened in terror and sweat grew on her forehead. In truth, Perry had no intention of hurting her or this Mike guy… but she didn't have to know that.

"Okay, okay I'll tell you just… put that fucking thing away." Smiling inside, Perry stashed the ripper in his satchel. Peta gave him some general directions but also handed him a map that was in Mike's pockets.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll wake up in a couple of hours, but how do you think he'll react when he finds out his gang has suddenly been wiped off the face of the Earth because of what you told me?" Even in her dizzy state, Peta knew all to well what he'd do.

"Oh crap… what am I going to do… what have I done?" Peta began pacing around, stumbling every now and again. Perry grasped her shoulders holding her in place.

"Just calm down, here's what you'll do. You'll go into the compound and find some travellers clothes from one of the dead slaves inside. Then, you'll travel south to Megaton. Show Lucas Simms this trinket," Perry then placed a bear shaped necklace in her hand, "Say I'm letting you stay in my home, he'll let you in. Stay put until I show up. Understand?" Peta nodded nervously and as soon as Perry let go she rushed into the compound and out of sight, leaving Perry alone with the unconscious Mike. He knelt down and pillaged Mike's pockets looking for any keys or notes. Finding nothing, he set off to the cave mentally preparing himself for the inevitable slaughter he was about to commit.

Also nagging at his mind was this raider, would she even make it to Megaton? Will she still be there when he returns home? What will he do with her afterwards? The worries made Perry exhausted; he pushed the thoughts out of his mind only focusing on how he was going to handle the raider base.

Another evil that will be removed from the world to be replaced by death and emptiness. Another pathetic attempt to make the world a better place not by adding anything to it but by destroying something in it. That's all he was; a destroyer. He didn't care what the citizens of the wasteland called him. Messiah, Paladin, _last, best hope for humanity. _He knew what he was; an exterminator. He was no saviour, no divine being come to guide humanity. He was a man, pure and simple. A man who almost succumbed to the evils of the Wastes for his own selfish desires. He shouldn't have these temptations, but all humans do…. Don't they?

_You made the right choice Perry._

The words of his father echoed in his mind. Perry needed the memories of him now more than ever. It's easy to find your place in the world when you have a goal but afterwards? That's the true test; one Perry will not… _cannot_ fail.

* * *

**A/N: Apologies everyone for the amount of time this took. Things have been hectic here, I've had to move houses coupled with university exams so I haven't had much time. Hopefully this will be worth the wait. **

**Reviews and criticisms appreciated. **


	4. The Mask And The Face Beneath It

Perry strolled through the caves as gunfire ricocheted off his armour. The Terrible Shotgun was in his hands but he wasn't even aiming. He wanted the raiders to know they had no chance of surviving. He wanted them to be overcome with fear and the knowledge of inevitable death. He wanted them to suffer. But most of all; he wanted them to know how their prey felt, what it was like on the receiving end. The raiders were emptying entire rounds of ammunition onto Perry and while the impact was painful, he wasn't in any danger. The raiders knew it, but they tried anyway.

When a few of the raiders ran out of ammunition they turned and fled. One of the remaining raiders yelled insults at them as his head exploded with Perry's first shot. It was so quick. One minute the head was there, the next it was replaced with a burst of gore and a gaping hole. The body collapsed forward and the neck bled onto the ground. The image always fascinated Perry. He remembered the first time he killed a man, the ruined flesh and splattered blood made him throw up but eventually he grew used to it. He could even see an artistic skill to it.

These were not people; they were canvases for his art.

Perry removed Ol' Painless from his back and replaced it with the shotgun. He took aim and shot a raider through the leg, it ripped clean off. The raider screamed in pain and fell back; the others abandoned him and ran further into the caves. Perry slowly walked towards the downed murderer as he pathetically tried to back away with one leg. He screamed in agony and terror as the figure approached him. Perry took aim again and shot the raider in his right arm. The impact spread blood over the raider's face, the arm itself was hanging on by a thread. Perry could not even imagine the kind of pain this man was in. No… not man. This… _monster_ was receiving the punishment he deserved. But hearing his scream and seeing his face as it was drenched in blood and tears, Perry couldn't stand anymore of it. He quickly fired a round into the raider's head.

Silence filled the cave again. He could vaguely hear the sound of voices further in the cave, barking terrified orders. They were scared. Good.

Perry quickly left the body. The longer he spent cleansing this cave the longer the raiders had to prepare and he had already spent too much time torturing this lone raider. He marched further into the darkness; he couldn't hear any voices so they must be waiting for him. A long, narrow corridor greeted him stretching into blackness. A battle cry echoed down the cave towards Perry, he activated the flashlight on his helmet and saw a lone raider about 50 metres away wielding an axe and rushing towards him. Perry didn't shoot or make any effort to aim his rifle. The raider lifted the axe above his head and was within 10 metres of Perry when he unknowingly broke the tripwire and was instantly crushed between the rock wall and an iron girder. No doubt another raider had set the trap but neglected to tell anyone else about it.

Perry noticed the man was still alive. He was gasping, there was blood everywhere and several cracked bones were piercing out of his skin. This raider has been dealt his punishment, so Perry put him out of his misery with a single round to the head. Moving on, he kept an eye open for signs of any more traps but found none. Presumably they didn't have time to set anymore. The corridor eventually opened into a large cavern, there were huts and beds set up everywhere along with rows of tables lined with food and butchered corpses. This must be the heart of the base. The cavern was also full of rock columns with wooden bridges connecting each one.

"NOW!"

Perry looked up to the closest column as three raiders leapt up, each holding a rocket launcher. They fired at the same time but Perry was already leaping behind one of the tables and out of the way. The ground shook with the impact of the missiles and his ears were ringing loudly. Without thinking, he pulled the Tesla Cannon off his back and inserted a charge pack into the socket. The ringing eventually died and he could hear the raiders yelling.

"Reload! Quickly! The fucker isn't dead yet!" They each hurriedly picked up a missile that was lying next to them. Perry stood up out of cover and took aim. One of the raiders managed to glance back down and the last thing he saw was the barrel of the cannon, a flash of light and then nothing. The raider that Perry hit burst in a cloud of gore and blood, the electricity that was hanging in the air killed the other two. Their eyes popped like grapes and they fell to the ground, dead but twitching erratically.

On the other side of the cavern, Perry could hear screams.

"There's no stopping him! Quick! Give me your gun!" Perry was expecting one last stand from these raiders but to his surprise he heard a gunshot from where the voices were coming from. There was silence and then five other shots were fired one after the other. He walked through the columns and reached the origin of the voices. A lone raider stood in a group of dead bodies, a fresh bullet wound in each of their heads. The living raider turned to Perry.

"You're not getting the satisfaction, screw you motherfucker!" He lifted the barrel up towards his temple and pulled the trigger.

_Click._

"No…" He tried again.

_Click._

His eyes slowly opened in horror and he began to shake, sweat growing on his brow and his hands. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" He dropped the gun and slowly backed against the wall with his hands in front of him like he was begging for mercy. Perry walked towards the raider, purposefully making his steps slow and powerful. This was the last one; he had all the time in the world now. The raider slid down the wall with his hands still in front of him, tears streaming down his face. Perry stood over him.

"What makes a person into this?" His voice was cold and sounded inhuman through the helmet. "What drives a man to become a monster? What drives him to torture, kill and destroy… for the fun of it? IS THAT WHY? WAS IT WORTH IT YOU PIECE OF SHIT? HUH?"

The raider was whimpering now… _pathetic._

Perry bent down and struck his hand out, grabbing the raider by the throat. He gasped and desperately tried to grab Perry's hands. Perry straightened up and pulled the raider off his feet, still clutching his throat. He gave it a small squeeze; the raider gagged and tried to pull his fingers off to no success. Perry brought the raider right up to his covered face; he was within an inch of his helmet.

"You are a plague, a disease that must be purged… I've seen one of your kind burn and torture a little girl until she died screaming from the pain." Perry then slammed the raiders head into the wall. He leaned in closer and whispered, "You're about to know what that feels like…"

* * *

Perry took a bottle of stolen Aqua Pura from one of the tables and splashed his armour with it to wash the blood off. His hands were the bloodiest; no surprise after what he did to that last raider. He was glad none of his friends would ever have to see that. If Fawkes was here then he would probably never speak to Perry again. But he had to do it, there is no justice in this world except what you make for yourself…. _for yourself. You didn't do this for the people; you did this out of your own anger, your own disgust. Murder for murder's sake. How do you live with yourself?_

_How indeed…_

Perry detached the tubing of his helmet and pulled it off his head. He held the object in his hands and stared into the visor. _So this is the last thing those raiders ever saw. _He thought back to the raider he spared from Paradise Falls. He saved one raider and ruthlessly slaughtered another. Who is he? He continued to stare into the visor.

_Which is my true face?_

Perry dropped the helmet. It clanged against the rock floor and laid still. Perry screamed and smashed his fist into the table. He screamed and screamed until his voice was sore, and then he screamed louder.

* * *

Perry walked out into the day light. His helmet was in his satchel, he couldn't bear to look at it any longer. He stood on a small cliff edge that shielded the raider base entrance which would explain why he never found it. He looked out onto the wastes and didn't move. He merely watched. Was this shithole really what he was fighting for? Was this Wasteland worth all this slaughter?

_No it isn't… but father knew what it might one day be. THAT is worth fighting for. That was what he died for. _

Trying to take his mind off his haunting memories, Perry flicked some switches on his Pip-Boy to activate the radio. Three-Dog once again rang out from the speakers.

"Heya Capital Wasteland, how have you been these days? Wait, why am I asking you? You're tuning in to find out from me, ha ha, well here's the news. The Brotherhood of Steel has asked me to send out a message to Perry Neeson, a.k.a. the Lone Wanderer. They've asked if you could stop by the Citadel for a friendly chat, my money's on it having something to do with the super mutants, guess we'll wait and see. That's it for the news kiddies, here's some music specially requested by an anonymous Wastelander. Enjoy."

A guitar began to slowly play as Perry walked down the cliff. He recognised it immediately, it was a song by Johnny Cash titled "Hurt", it was the last song he played before he died.

_I hurt myself today  
To see if I still feel  
I focus on the pain  
The only thing that's real  
The needle tears a hole  
The old familiar sting  
Try to kill it all away  
But I remember everything_

The regret and sorrow of Johnny Cash was clearly evident in his singing, it struck a powerful cord with Perry.

_What have I become  
My sweetest friend  
Everyone I know  
goes away  
In the end_

What have I become? Those words pierced Perry's soul. He continued to listen to the song as he walked through the rocks and the shrubs, a single tear falling down his cheek.

_And you could have it all  
My empire of dirt  
I will let you down  
I will make you hurt_

_If I could start again_  
_A million miles away_  
_I would keep myself_  
_I would find a way_

As the music slowed and finally stopped, Perry did to. _If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself, I would find a way… _

He _will_ find a way.

* * *

**A/N: I'll admit this chapter is a bit emo but it's all part of the walking contradiction that is the Lone Wanderer. He saves people and spares enemies one minute and then ruthlessly slaughters and tortures others. He's not sure of himself and what he stands for. Yeah it's depressing, but having Perry as a flawless nice guy with no internal struggle would have just been boring. Hopefully you'll enjoy it.**

**Oh and I would seriously suggest looking up Johnny Cash's Hurt music video on youtube, it's beautifully tragic and may give you a better understanding of what Perry is feeling. In fact, here's the link, now you have no excuse. .com/watch?v=o22eIJDtKho**

**Reviews and criticisms appreciated. **


	5. The Consequences of Mercy

The familiar metal gate of Megaton was now clearly distinguishable over the rocks and bushes. Perry was looking forward to finally putting his feet up and getting out of this damn armour. He had been stuck inside it for several days now, it was always too difficult to take the metal and ballistic gel suit off every time he camped, it would be like taking apart and rebuilding a car every day. At least the weight made removing the suit feel so much sweeter, he always felt like his limbs were being suspended by the softest pillows imaginable.

Perry now stood outside the gate; he waved to the sniper who yelled to open the doors. Stepping through into the town itself, Perry could see Lucas Simms rushing up towards him.

"Perry! Good thing you arrived, I was a hair's breathe away from kicking that raider out of this town for good. You… did send a raider here right, with that necklace?" Perry smiled knowing that Peta had arrived in Megaton safely.

"That I did, she helped me find out where the rest of them were hiding, might have been their last encampment to, if we're lucky." Perry expected a broad smile, a relieved sigh, any sign that Lucas was happy to hear the news about the raiders. All he did was stare at Perry with a confused expression.

"She?"

Perry's heart stopped.

"…Yeah. She. A female raider named Peta. She showed up didn't she?" Lucas Simms' face clenched up, he spun around and looked like he was about to throw a fit.

"I knew it… I knew that motherfucker was lying."

"Wait, who was lying? Who showed up Lucas?" Lucas turned back around to face Perry with a look of suppressed fury in his eyes.

"Some raider punk who called himself Mike."

Perry's eyes widened in realization and horror. He looked down at the ground remembering the look of surprised sleep on the raider leader's face. Why did he just leave him there? He should have just shot him. _I knew I should have just killed that fucker, stupid stupid, you left a raider leader alive? What the fuck is wrong with you?_

A dark cloud loomed over Perry's face, the anger and humiliation he felt needed an outlet. He was going to vent his fury straight between Mike's eyes, like he should have done in the first place. He reached into his satchel, pulled his helmet out, attached the tubing and clicked the locks into place.

"Where is he?" he asked with a noticeably darker voice. Slightly unnerved by the change in tone, Lucas reached behind himself and pulled the rifle off his back, clenching the familiar ripples and revelling in the feeling of power it always gave him.

"He's up at the bar being a nuisance, I would have shot him myself but he keeps brandishing that necklace of yours saying he's your buddy and to put all his drinks on your tab. Guess it's time to pay up, right?" Perry nodded.

* * *

"Yeah yeah, me and the lone wordiner bee' bes' buddies ever since he save'ved me from that raider grouspe I fell into. Bad bad bunch, but Lerry! He showed me the way, we been travelling all over the masteland fighting THOUSANDS of meathclaws, you should ave seen us!" Mike stumbled about the bar, that accursed necklace in one hand and a whiskey bottle in the other. That necklace was all that was standing between Gob and making the bar noticeably redder with smoothskin blood. Everyone in the town knew the deal, that necklace belonged to Perry and if someone showed up to town with it that meant they were a friend. The town agreed to look after Perry's friends after everything he did for Megaton but it was becoming less likely everyone was going to follow that oath much longer.

It could be possible this guy killed Perry and stole… wait, what was he thinking? How could some ex-raider kill Perry? He took on the freakin' Enclave, super mutants and killed _thousands_ of raiders, how could this one guy kill The Lone Wonderer and how would he even know what the necklace meant? No, he must have been given it… which still didn't make sense. Gob knew Perry; he was a decent human being, especially for a smoothskin. He wouldn't associate himself with this drunken waste of meat and he certainly wouldn't send him to Megaton for the townspeople to deal with.

Sighing heavily, Gob tried to distract himself from the drunken rambling by wiping glasses. Eventually the swaying raider landed on the counter directly in front of Gob, a bubbling smirk on the idiots face. He looked like he was trying to form a sentence but was having trouble just moving his lips.

"Eh, hey, listen… listen to I… Zombie…hehehe zooombie, zumbie, lumbie…. Hehehe. Hey! Zombie, I need more… of the stuff… this stuff…" he pathetically dropped the empty whiskey bottle on the counter; it rolled off and smashed on the ground. "Oopsie… clean thus up… zombie!" Grumbling, Gob pulled the brush out from under the counter, walked around and began sweeping up the glass. Every single pair of eyes in the bar was on this raider, all thinking the same thing. How the hell did this guy get that necklace?

Their question was about to be answered as Lucas Simms kicked in the door to the bar with the Lone Wonderer right behind him, rifles in hand and both aimed squarely at the drunken invader. Neither of them moved as the raider slowly and clumsily turned around.

"Hey! It's my bes' buddie! Come 'ere you!" He stumbled toward Perry, somehow believing his own lies. Disgusted by this exploitative scum, Perry delivered a blow with the handle of his rifle directly into the raiders chin. He collapsed onto the floor unconscious; the rest of bar sat in stunned silence. Perry didn't move for a moment, making sure the raider was really unconscious. Satisfied, he walked over and examined the drunken mess. That was indeed the same necklace he gave Peta. But then where was she? How did this guy manage to acquire the necklace? Perry stood up, looking around the bar; he then motioned his hand towards the unconscious raider.

"Tie him up." Everyone immediately got up, grabbed some rope and began constricting the raider's hands and legs. One patron _accidently_ tripped and kicked the raider in the head. Lucas turned toward Perry.

"What do you want to do with him? Killing him would be easier you know." Perry didn't say anything. He just continued looking at the man's face, a man he spared only for it to come back and bite him in the ass; so much for kindness making a difference in this world.

"I want to question him first. After that he's all yours."

* * *

Mike slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the intense throbbing in his head; it felt like someone had smacked him with a cement brick. He really had to cut back on all the free whiskey. It was only when he tasted the blood in his mouth, the realisation he was tied to a chair and the rushing memories that he noticed where he was and what happened.

_Fuck… this can't be good. _

He slowly opened his eyes to see he was indeed tied to a chair, in an empty room with Lucas Simms and…. _Oh FUCK!_

The Lone Wonderer stood there with his arms crossed, his helmet removed and a look of such concentrated anger it felt like it was burying itself in Mike's soul. He began to sweat profusely.

"Glad to see you're awake. We'd like to have a chat," Lucas Simms said, savouring every word like he had been waiting for this moment since Mike arrived in Megaton. Mike didn't say anything; he was too terrified to work his mouth. Lucas Simms smirked. He motioned towards Perry who slowly walked towards the bound raider. He looked down on Mike like some disgusting animal.

"How did you get that necklace?"

Mike said nothing.

"ANSWER ME!"

Shaking, Mike finally forced his voice to work.

"I…I took it from Peta." Perry's hand clamped itself around Mike's throat, causing his eyes to widen in shock and his heart to beat faster than it had ever done in his life. Perry leaned in closer.

"And Peta? What happened to her?" He loosened his grip enough to let the raider speak. The pressure on his windpipe caused Mike to cough and gag before muttering something.

"Louder! What did you do to Peta?"

_Fuck it… I'm done for anyway…_

"I killed the betraying bitch."

Silence filled the room… but in Perry's mind there wasn't even that. His thoughts were empty, emotionless. That act of mercy was not enough to save her. Maybe no act of mercy is enough. He turned towards the door and as he walked out, Lucas Simms pulled his handgun out and faster than Mike could think…. There was only darkness and the image of The Lone Wonderer turning his back on him.

* * *

**A/N: Apologies again for the late update. University has started up again and I've been too distracted to think about where I wanted to take this story. I had a few ideas what to do with Peta but this seemed like the best one. Stay tuned and you'll find out what the Brotherhood want to talk to Perry about. I can almost guarantee it isn't what you expect. **

**Comments and criticisms appreciated. Thanks for reading.**


	6. Journal of The Wonderer

As the sun withdrew her rosy red fingers from the hills of the wasteland, the blanket of twilight stretched across the opposing plain of sky. Perry always adored this event of the day. That moment in time where it wasn't day but nor was it truly night. The light of the sun still reaching over the horizon as the star moved her focus to another place on Earth. Soon her fire will be completely gone, the only indication she was still alive was the poor reflection of her glory on the face of the moon. James had once told Perry about how the moon was a simple imitation of the sun, and a poor one at that. He had asked his father if he would ever get to see these artworks of nature to which his father simply replied, "We are born in the vault. We die in the vault."

Perry was gazing out of window of his bedroom, his hands together behind him, and his back straight. He was finally out of his armour and his ballistic gel suit. He revelled in the sensation of his limbs being granted freedom. He was in his armour so often these days that when people in Megaton saw him in his casual clothes they looked taken aback. His armour had become a part of his image; a part of him. It'd be like seeing a feral wearing a clown suit; it's not what you're expecting.

The event with Peta and Mike was occupying his thoughts as he stared out the window. His mind was racing quickly, going from one topic to the next.

_Should have killed him… What were you expecting to do if she lived?... Shouldn't have left her alone…_

But there was one resounding thought that stood out amongst all the others.

_Why the hell do you care?_

He had killed thousands of raiders, tortured people and watched those close to him perish, so why the hell isn't he used to this yet? He was supposed to be numb to this by now damnit! As he pondered his feelings he heard a knock from downstairs. Wadsworth drifted from the kitchen and opened the front door.

"Hey Waddy! How are the new thrusters I gave you? They're not overheating too quickly are they?"

Perry sighed; he wasn't in the mood for this.

"Good evening Miss Brown, yes they are working to the extremely high standards of functionality I have come to expect from your skills, thankyou _very much_." Perry chuckled from overhearing this, he knew that the standards Wadsworth had come to expect from Moira was somewhere between average and disastrous. Perry had to patch Wadsworth's thrusters himself since he was at risk of blasting through the two new floors the citizens of Megaton had worked so hard to add to his house.

"Awww aren't you sweet," Perry could hear Moira kissing one of Wadsworth's visual optics in thankyou. "I heard our Perry is back in town, could I just have a quick talk with him?"

"Certainly Miss Brown," Wadsworth floated back up the stairs and entered Perry's new and much larger bedroom. "Miss Brown would like to talk with you, master."

"So I heard, thankyou."

"If you don't mind I need to clean out my moisture collectors before they fill up with whatever bile Miss Brown had the pleasure of touching me with, excuse me." Perry chuckled again as Wadsworth exited his room. Taking a deep breath he followed after him and down the stairs to the waiting Moira.

"Heya Perry!" Moira leapt forward and gave the surprised Perry a hug. Despite how he felt mere moments ago, he suddenly felt a bit better. He half-heartedly returned the hug as her bright red hair was in his mouth. It smelt of oil, dirt and God knows what else but it did feel a bit better to actually feel close to someone who wasn't trying to kill him. Moira leant back but still had her hands on Perry's shoulders.

"And where have you been _lone wonderer?"_ she said with a smirk.

"Just had to visit an old friend. Keeping promises, you know how it is."

"Oh indeed, keeping promises is extremely important," Moira let go of Perry and walked towards the old couch he had. "I remember this one time an old trader by the name of Brock came into my shop looking to trade," she sat down as she continued to babble about this trader who she made a promise to in exchange for valuable technology. He sat down on the opposite side of the couch and partially listened to her story. Something about robot prostitutes, a city called New Vegas and a still working truck which she had promised to get him. When Moira really got into the talking mood it was sometimes difficult to keep up with her. He tried his best to listen when she talked about this other city, Perry knew there were other surviving cities but knew nothing about them. From what he could grasp this city sounded like it was a bigger cesspool than Washington D.C., still it sounded interesting. Maybe he should travel there some day…

He looked at the small Vaultboy clock he had and saw she had been talking for an hour. He was getting impatient; he just wanted to be left alone for a while.

"Moira, Moira, please just stop," She looked a bit taken back by the sudden interruption. "Listen, I just… I just need to be alone for a little while. I need to… figure something out."

"Is it about that raider today?" It was true, but Perry didn't want to admit it.

"No… yes… I don't know." He shook his head. Moira silently examined Perry as he looked down at the floor. She extended a hand and cupped Perry's cheek.

"Listen you, if you're feeling guilty because you think an innocent person's death is your fault you shouldn't turn away from that; embrace it." Perry looked at Moira with confusion across his face.

"What do you mean 'embrace it'?" Moira smiled.

"In this shattered world having someone who actually cares, actually feels bad about a person they've never really known, that is a rare thing. Your guilt shows you care; it makes you a better person. It makes you a good person."

Perry searched her eyes, what she said made sense. Maybe he was simply searching to see if she meant it. Moira stood up from the couch.

"If you need to sort your thoughts out, I'd suggest writing them down. It's always helped me whenever I thought up a new doohicky or gizmo… speaking of which, I need to go I just thought of something!" She rushed towards the door but just before she exited she turned around.

"Take care Perry." She winked and then she was gone.

Perry sat on the couch pondering everything Moira just said. He always thought that at best she was odd, at worst she was bat-shit crazy. But she had an interesting new perception on things. She wanted to make the world a better place, but not the same way the Brotherhood or Enclave did. They wanted to rebuild the world as it once was. But Moira wanted to build it into something new. She once compared the world to a glass vase. 200 years ago that vase broke. People have been trying to pick up the pieces and put them back together ever since, but no matter what you do there will always be cracks, the world will never be the same again.

Moira wanted something else. She wanted to take those broken pieces and arrange them into something new and possibly into something better. Despite her shortcomings, Perry still greatly respected and even admired Moira for that. She was an optimist, but a realistic one. While her advice had often gotten Perry into disastrous situations, he had learnt a lot about the Wasteland from them and as a result taught the rest of the Wasteland's people about them as well. Maybe he should take her advice this time as well.

Perry stood up from the couch and walked up the stairs to the new fourth floor of his house. There he entered his study containing a rare working Vault-Tec computer. He had found it during his search around Vault-Tec headquarters and decided he'd keep it. Now was as good a time as any to use it. He sat down at his desk and started up the computer, he then opened a writing program and sat staring at the single blinking line at the top left of the screen. What should he write?

He tapped his finger on the metal surface of his desk. The blinking line was almost mocking him, ordering him to do something besides just sit there. He leant forward and began to type.

_I am the Lone Wonderer. I have decided to document my thoughts and maybe one day reach a conclusion about…_ Perry shook his head.

"Nope, shit." He pressed down on the backspace command until all the words were gone to once again be replaced by the blinking line. He started over.

_For future generations, this is the journal of my thoughts. I write this to one day teach people about the lessons they need to learn about this world so we may never repeat the same mistakes…_ Again, Perry shook his head. Wiping the words from existence once more he sat pondering how the great writers of the past could do this so easily.

_Hmm, maybe they didn't. Maybe they needed to practice first as well before they knew what to write about. Father always said, write what you know. Too bad all I know now is war…_

War.

The word disgusted Perry. How can you compress the atrocities, the emotion and the absolute horror that is war into a single syllable? Are there any words that can describe it? Perry thought about all the battles he went through in his short life. Even when he grew from the fires of battle into the one-man army he is now known as throughout the wasteland there was only one consistent thing about war. He typed three simple words.

_War never changes._

He read and reread those three words and what they meant. His mind began to form ideas that his fingers swiftly turned into sentences. This is the power of language, the ability to take ideas and concepts in their most pure form and make them accessible to anyone with the knowledge to understand them. It made ideas into realities. Perry finished typing and reread what his own mind had created.

* * *

War never changes.

_The means of war, the purpose of war, those will change. There was a time where humanity fought with swords and arrows, now we fight with machines and rifles. But war itself? That will never change. It is the only consistent aspect of human nature throughout history. The urge to kill and our inability of our collective consciousness to accept others who are different from us has remained fixed in our nature as far back as we are able to know. This cycle of self destruction reached its apex 200 years ago, humanity finally had the power to finish what it seemed to desire most of all. This was possible thanks to nuclear bombs._

_If you, dear reader, do not know what a nuclear bomb is, I shall explain it as simply as I can. Imagine the worst thing in the world; nuclear bombs are a thousand times worse than that. _

_It has been 200 years since that horrible point in history; the scars of that time are still present today. Radiation, mutation, destruction, they are all the result of nuclear weapons. After this moment, where most of humanity has been eradicated and our survival depends most of all on us working together like we should have done in the first place, will we?_

_No. _

_Nothing has changed. We continue to fight amongst ourselves over the most trivial of things. My heart weeps when I see this today, when a man who had his skin burned off his body and has to endure the degrading insults and looks of disgust from those who are too quick to judge on appearance. When a person succumbs to their primal drives for violence and kills for the enjoyment of it. When a young girl is forced into a life of sexual depravity and her innocence lost forever by those too selfish to care. I ask myself, what has truly changed? _

_Even I have killed thousands. What makes me different from those monsters? _

_A close friend has told me it is because I still care. When I kill a man I see in his dead eyes the life he had lived. I see him growing up as a child, years and years of learning and growth ended by my hand. I can not help myself. I always see the potential for that person being thrown away. What could they have accomplished? Could they have one day changed? These are the thoughts that plague my mind. These are the thoughts that press on my shoulders like colossal weights. _

_But I have realised tonight that this is the burden I must carry to be a good person. I must embrace this burden, like my father did before me. He died to protect his child. I can only hope one day I will have the honour of doing the same…_

* * *

As Perry finished reading, his pip-boy suddenly began to beep and flash. Surprised, Perry examined the device and on the screen was an image of a cake and the words HAPPY BIRTHDAY! He looked at the calendar on the screen and saw that indeed it was the 13th of July, 2278; the date of his 20th birthday. Perry smiled at this, he had completely forgotten.

He looked to his left and picked up the photo placed on his desk. It was the photo that was taken on the day he got his pip-boy, exactly 10 years ago. There was himself in that goofy baseball cap, and his father. He had made sure to collect this photograph before he was banished from the vault after helping Amata. He stared at it for a time, the memories of his life in the vault flooding back to him. It seemed like a different existence to him now, so much has changed.

But now was the time for Perry to make a change. Not for himself, but for this Wasteland. It was his father's goal to make this world a better place to live in. Perry would continue his work. He would show the world that there are some things that have to change.

He will show them that things **can** change.

* * *

**A/N: There was a plot here, it's gone now. Sorry everyone for this extensive, introspective chapter. I just always thought what would it be like if the Lone Wonderer ever wrote a journal. What would he be thinking? Hopefully you'll find some enjoyment out of this. I'll continue on with the plot, I promise. **

**Just an acknowledgement, I did get the idea for the journal from the Vault Dweller Memoirs, which is the journal of the first Fallout character. I'd suggest looking it up on as it's a fantastic read. Also, yes the New Vegas mention was because I'm holding my breathe in anticipation for it. I can't wait to see what the original writers of Fallout will do now they've been given the chance to make another game. **

**Chris Avellone is without a doubt one of my favourite writers. Can't wait to see what he does with New Vegas.**


	7. Meetings and Friends

_Walls of steel. Pale faces. Images of a life long gone. There are images he knows exists but can not see. Memories he can recall but never picture. Names that are as familiar to him as his own but never form into words. Vagueness. Blackness. Unknowable. He sees his father sitting on a chair with a Bible in hand. The pages are blank. He sees the Overseer with a fist made of iron. He sees Amata, just like he remembers. Her face shatters like glass and spills over the black floor. He looks at his hands, they are not his own. Shrivelled, ugly, decaying. They rot away until only the bone remain, but they are not dry; they are covered in blood. _

Perry opens his eyes. He doesn't move, simply deciding to lie in bed a bit longer. What was that? A dream of course, but what was it? The images are still fresh in his mind but as with all dreams they are difficult to grasp. It's almost impossible to tell what his dream was and what was a simple memory that was returning to the surface of his mind. He lifts his hand and sees it is still flesh and whole. Scarred and hardened by his time in the wastes, but still whole. Letting his arm fall back onto his bed Perry sighs and stares at the ceiling. Today was an important day; the people of Megaton were having a meeting on what to do with the expanding population. Being the home of the Lone Wonderer made Megaton seem safer. In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, safety is a common concern that pulls in many travellers.

Perry yawned and stretched his arms into the air and above his head. He was tempted to simply let the town sort things out themselves than fix their problems for them… again. But Megaton was now his home; he had a responsibility to it not just as The Lone Wonderer but as a citizen. To be fair, it wasn't just laziness that tempted him. Getting up would mean putting his armour back on, something that while he was used to, he still preferred to do without.

_Why not just dress casual? It's not like anyone's going to care… _

Perry shook his head. Of course people would care. His armour was a part of his image, a part of him. Sure he was a citizen of Megaton like all the others, but no one would deny that whatever Perry suggested would be the decision that everyone would agree upon. He might as well be the de facto leader; even Lucas Simms offered him the position of Mayor. He turned it down, he was no leader. He was a tool, plain and simple. He needed to look the part. Maybe once this is over he could see what it was the Brotherhood wanted. He snickered, they've been waiting patiently it seems.

* * *

The entire town gathered in the Church of the Children of Atom. 200 people could barely fit inside shoulder to shoulder but it was the only place large enough for everyone. Lucas, Perry, Moriarty and the leader of the Church Confessor Cromwell were sitting behind the podium at the front of the church. Once everyone had settled down, Confessor Cromwell stood up and approached the podium.

"Children of Megaton," he preached with his arms out in front of him, "Welcome each and every child of the great one. May his pure light guide and shape us today so that we may one day end this half-life of ours and achieve the full life that only Atom can grant us! Amen!" Very few members of the audience uttered amen in response, notably the people who were clearly in the early stages of becoming ghouls. Perry could never understand these people and was often astounded by their ignorance. Cromwell clearly had no idea what a half-life was nor did he seem to notice how radiation poisoned and decayed everything it touched. Perry was never a religious man; it's difficult to believe in a benevolent God when the entire world was bathed in nuclear fire under His watch. But people need hope, no matter how illogical or idiotic.

Perry was now dressed in his T-51b power armour, his helmet sitting on his lap. His guns were back at his house except for the Blackhawk, can never be too careful. Once Cromwell sat back down in his seat Lucas Simms approached the podium.

"As you all no doubt know, we've been experiencing a major population growth over the past few months. We've called this town meeting in order to discuss what can be done." There was some murmuring among the crowd.

"Why not just stop people from coming in?" one woman shouted from the back.

"We did consider that, but we need outsiders in order to trade, bring in caps and supplies. Besides, the population is already bigger than the town can handle and we can't just start kicking people out." The crowd started to murmur a bit louder. Lucas Simms turned back towards Perry and nodded. Perry then stood up and the entire crowd went silent. As he walked towards the podium, Lucas simply stepped aside and stood next to Perry. He placed his helmet on the podium if only for effect. He cleared his throat.

"We've already come up with a solution," Perry could see a number of curious faces at this statement, "The best option at this time will be to simply expand the town outwards. In order to do this, we will need to pull down the walls." Some people nodded their heads in approval while others seemed less than thrilled with the idea. "Now I know this will seem dangerous but raiders have been all but exterminated and any remaining threats can be handled by a simple security force."

"And where do you expect to get the resources for this?" a man shouted. Perry smiled; he had been hoping someone would ask that.

"Paradise Falls."

The crowd burst into outcries.

"Paradise Falls? Are you insane? We'll be killed or enslaved!"

"That place is cursed! We'll be living within the walls used by monsters!"

"It's too far! How could we ever bring those resources here?"

As the crowd continued to throw insults and concerns at Perry, he calmly brought his Pip-Boy up and pressed a few buttons. The device instantly let out a screeching noise that was like a thousand deathclaws scratching chalkboards. People tried to cover their ears to block out the noise. Perry then turned off the noise. Removing their hands and staring at Perry the crowd was finally silent.

"I… understand that there are a number of concerns with this plan. Paradise Falls is indeed a symbol, one I'm sure a number of you are even familiar with." A number of faces turned away from Perry at this statement. Tears clear in their eyes at the memories. "But please understand. We need to expand and this is a chance for us to turn that horrible place into something good. To use what's left and build a better future. A future of scrap and broken concrete, but a future none the less." The crowd didn't make a sound. Lucas Simms spoke up.

"The Wonderer has been making regular checks of the facility, it is abandoned and raider activities are practically non-existent. If we all pull our own weight, we can travel there and return with whatever scrap we can use to expand Megaton."

"It will be hard," Perry continued, "But I've seen more than enough to know this town is capable of doing great things. You are an island in the irradiated ocean of the wastes, but this island just isn't enough for everyone. It's about time we added some extra land to this shelter. So I ask you, will you trust me as you have done before, will you help?" There was silence.

Moira Brown walked out of the crowd and stood in front of Perry, smiling that same smile.

"I'll help, sounds like fun." Perry returned her smile and looked out towards the crowd.

"I'll help to," said a man.

"So will I."

"Me to."

Before long, every single person agreed to help. Moriarty meanwhile just rolled his eyes and thought, _great. Now my bar will be emptier than a ghoul's barber shop._

* * *

Perry climbed down the stony ledge, being careful not to slip. He left Megaton once the town meeting had finished and was now on his way to the Citadel. He grabbed his usual arsenal of weapons and supplies, once again being burdened with the weight of his weapons and responsibilities. So far the trip had been uneventful, he'll see if it stays that way once he gets closer to the ruined buildings.

He spotted some abandoned raider camps, stopping by to loot any food he could find. The only things that were left were empty beer bottles and pots. Utterly useless. He travelled south along the border of the ruins; he was more than familiar with this path. After two hours of walking from Megaton he finally stood before the entrance of the Brotherhood Headquarters. The giant metal door looming over him, reminding him of the first time he saw this place. Has it only been four months since that time? Time certainly feels longer with so little to do. The guard saluted Perry when he walked up to him.

"Attend hut! Lyon's Pride present!"

"At ease, I just wished to see what the Brotherhood wanted me for."

"Yes sir, I'll alert Elder Lyons of your visit."

The giant door slowly raised ushering Perry into its crumpled depths. Walking into the Courtyard, he was greeted with the typical scene of recruits being trained, more than usual Perry noted. _No surprise, the Brotherhood will need all the help they can get since they're stretched so thin with the Purifier._

"Ahh Perry! It is good you have returned to us." Elder Lyons walked through the recruits and shook Perry's hand.

"It is good to see you again to Elder, I apologise for my…. extended absence."

"It is no worry my boy, you of all people deserved a rest. But come, there is much to discuss as I'm sure you no doubt heard." Nodding, Perry followed Lyons into the facility. They passed through the technology room and the image of Liberty Prime's remains greeted him. By the looks of it, they had repaired his chassis and were working on his internal circuitry. They were a few years off, but they were going faster than Perry had expected. Lyons was walking rather fast; Perry had to make an effort to keep up with him. Whatever he wanted to talk about it must be important.

They finally passed into the Lyon's Den, the meeting room of the Lyon's Pride. To Perry's surprise, Sarah was there. To be fair, her presence wasn't the surprising part. What was surprising was the fact she wasn't in her armour. Perry couldn't remember ever seeing her outside of it. She turned towards the door and smiled at Perry. She was dressed in casual clothes and must have been pacing, he would have said she was nervous but Perry couldn't bring himself to think "Sarah" and "nervous" in the same sentence.

He returned Sarah's smile and saluted.

"Lyon's Pride Perry Neeson returning for duty." Sarah smirked at the formal greeting which seemed to say _typical._

"Welcome back Perry. Been causing all kinds of hell I hope."

"You know me far too well Sarah." She crossed her arms and seemed to take on a more serious tone.

"I certainly hope so, considering what we're about to ask of you." She turned to Elder Lyons. "Have you told him yet?" Elder Lyons seemed to become uncomfortable at the question.

"Not yet, there are other things I wanted to discuss first."

"What is going on?" Perry asked looking at both of them. Both Lyons looked at each other and then at Perry. Elder Lyons spoke first while Sarah walked around the room and locked all the doors.

"Perry, after everything you've done for us, I'm afraid we must ask more. Have you heard anything about the Super Mutant project we have been conducting?"

"Not much, just that you're planning to wipe them out for good."

"Yes… but I'm afraid it won't be as simple as a sweep of the city. Do you remember the FEV vial you gave me before you stormed the Purifier?"

"I do, the one that Eden gave me… why?" Lyons took a very uncomfortable stance at the question.

"We discovered a means to alter the virus. It was intended to kill anyone with mutations, no matter how slight. But we found a way to use it to only kill beings that have been affected by FEV."

"Essentially, it will only kill Super Mutants," Sarah added.

"Well that's good isn't…" Perry stopped mid sentence. If the FEV would kill every Super Mutant in the city that would mean…

Both Sarah and Elder Lyons fixed Perry with a knowing stare, silence filled the room.

"Fawkes…" Perry whispered.

"Yes. We know you and this Mutant are friends, which is why we wanted to consult with you before we used the virus."

Perry sat down on one of the chairs and stared at the ground. Fawkes was probably his best friend. He was currently at the Arlington Library reading whatever books he could find. Perry was planning to meet him after this was over…

"So you're asking me if it's okay that you kill one of my friends." The Lyons looked at each other with concern.

"Perry," Sarah knelt down beside him. "If we don't do this the Capitol Wasteland might never be free of them." Perry shook his head.

"No… no there is always another way. We'll just fight them; I'll lead the purge if I have to." Sarah sighed.

"And kill dozens if not hundreds of people in the process." She countered. Perry said nothing. He knew she was right. They'd loose people, lots of them.

"We understand this is a difficult choice," Elder Lyons counselled. "Which is why we will not launch the virus for two weeks. In that time… if you want your friend to live, you will have to convince him to leave the city and travel as far away as possible. We do not know how far the virus will spread." Perry looked away from both of them, he could sabotage the project if he wanted, but that would still result in people being killed. _Damnit. _

"But there are still other things we wanted to discuss with you." Perry looked up at Elder Lyons and could see his sympathetic eyes; this was a man who has seen more destruction and loses than Perry ever has. He knew what Perry was going through.

"What now? You going to ask me to shoot myself in the foot?" Elder Lyons seemed to ignore that comment.

"We found something from one of the Enclave computers we thought would be of great interest to you. It's about your father." Perry immediately shot up out of his seat, surprising Sarah as well as himself.

"What?... What about my father?" Elder Lyons smiled at the reaction.

"Perry, did you ever wonder what happened to your fathers body?" Perry blinked; he hadn't thought about it, even after all this time.

"The first piece of good news this night is that we may have discovered where it is. His body was being transported to Raven Rock likely for experimentation. We did not know how important burying his body might be to you, but we believed you would like to know regardless." Perry stood flabbergasted.

"But… but…" He didn't even know what to think. "Wouldn't he have decayed already?"

"The logs on the Enclave computer showed that he was put in a pressurised tube of formaldehyde to preserve his body. We do not know what happened to the troops looking after him. But I'm sure you'll find out if you decide to investigate." Lyons paused for a moment. "Is that what you would like to do Perry?"

He didn't even have to think about it.

"Yes."

Elder Lyons nodded at the response. "We thought you would." He then looked at Sarah who Perry had noted was being very quiet. "There is one other thing we would like to discuss."

_If it's as big as the others what could possibly be saved for last?_

Perry looked at one then the other, noticing the uncomfortable looks on their faces.

"What is it?" Perry asked Elder Lyons.

"I think Sarah should be the one to tell you." They both turned to Sarah who would have been fidgeting were it not for her military training. She cleared her throat and stepped towards Perry.

"Perry… father and I have thought about it and… would you be interested in marriage?"

* * *

**A/N: Well finally got back to the plot I thought up from the start. Sure took a while to get to this eh? If you've been keeping up I sure hope you're enjoying it. **

**As for the story, was I the only one who noted that we never found out what happened to James's body? This could be seen as the 'closure' scenario for Perry. **

**As for Fawkes, what would you do? Kill your best friend for the good of the many? Not exactly a decision I'd want to make myself. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter and remember that comments are appreciated. **


	8. Contemplation in Darkness

Shock is an emotion that Perry was not yet used to and so he reacts to it the same way most people do. He laughs. It started out as a giggle and then began to pour out in waves to the utter bewilderment of his present company. They both watched in silence as Perry laughed at her offer like it was some sort of joke. Sarah had half a mind to slap him around with a super sledge. Tears streamed down his face as he finally started to settle down. The tragic part was he didn't know why he was laughing at all. In his mind he was screaming at himself to get his laughter under control and realise how serious this was, but all that did was make him laugh harder.

Taking deep breathes; he managed to blurt out a few hurried sentences.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… this isn't funny… not funny." Getting himself in order he coughed and had to endure the awkward silence and stares of his friend and Elder.

"You found Sarah's proposal amusing then, Perry?" Elder Lyon asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"NO! No, absolutely not, just… surprising." _Oh crap I just insulted them. _

"I see," he responded slowly. "Will you be able to come up with an answer without laughing like a maniac?"

"Well… I just… I wasn't expecting this is all. I don't know." Perry had to come up with a solution quickly before he was banished from the Brotherhood or something equally as undesirable. "I mean… is this what you want Sarah? Marriage?"

"This isn't about what I want Perry." Sarah looked at Perry with a face that spoke of commitment and duty. "The Brotherhood is stretched thin with the purifier, we need more recruits and to do that we need people to want to join our ranks. We know how people are flocking to Megaton since you moved there, and so we need to do the same."

"What are you talking about?"

"Perry… I understand how horrible this is going to sound but this marriage that we are proposing would just be a publicity stunt. It would show that you are fully committed to the Brotherhood and your presence will bring recruits."

Perry examined Sarah; her eyes showed a willingness to surrender herself for the greater good, a look that Perry had known all too well. He turned away and walked around the tables and stood before the Brotherhood symbol on the back wall of the Den. Sarah and Elder Lyons both watched him as he seemed to roll the idea around in his head. He examined the painted symbols with one hand on his chin, thinking.

_Marriage… what would father say about this? He always told me to marry for love, but there was no one I have ever met that I ever truly loved. At least not in that sense. Sarah isn't doing this because it's what she wants, but if I go through with this then I could have a child of my own soon. Urgh, that's horrible. I'm thinking of Sarah as a baby making machine. _

Perry turned back to the Lyons.

"I want to find my father first; I need time to think about this."

Elder Lyons nodded at his answer; he understood how much Perry's father meant to him. Maybe it will help ease his mind.

"Very well Perry, I'll fetch the data and upload it to your Pipboy. I'll be back momentarily." Elder Lyons then left the Den with just Sarah and Perry alone inside.

Nothing moved or made a sound. Eventually, Perry could hear Sarah walk up and stand next to him, looking at the symbol on the wall. It suddenly occurred to him the kind of presence Sarah radiated. He could tell what she was doing without even looking at her. Is that the kind of bond that Father had with Catherine? Knowing the other as well as knowing yourself? There had to be more to it than that.

Sarah decided she had to break the silence.

"What will you do when you find his body?" Perry turned to Sarah and realised he hadn't thought about it, after all he only found out a few minutes ago.

"I don't know yet, I'm still trying to sort out everything you two threw at me in the space of five minutes." Sarah said nothing. She felt guilty for asking so much of him, but it had to be done. Perry turned back to the symbol. "Who suggested it by the way?"

"I did, father was as shocked as you were. Though he did have the manners to not laugh in my face." Perry chuckled.

"Sorry about that, I don't deal with surprises very well."

"Well then how would you feel knowing I'm part alien and my real name is Xeno?"

"I'd be okay with that actually. Besides, that isn't surprising. I always suspected as such since you enjoy Dandy Boy Apples, so not human." They both smiled at the joke.

"You know… there's a reason I'm not wearing my armour today." Perry turned to Sarah with a surprised look on his face.

"I noticed that… how come?" Sarah brought her hands up and placed them on her hips.

"Well I thought that getting a better view of my… _assets_ might make deciding a bit easier for you." Perry eyes opened wider at Sarah's advance but also because it was the first time he ever saw Sarah's body that way.

"Okay… now _that_ is surprising."

At that point the door suddenly opened with Elder Lyons return. They both quickly and awkwardly turned to the door and avoided looking at each other as best they could.

_Ahh the young,_ Elder Lyons mused to himself.

"Here is the last known location of the Enclave group that was escorting your father to Raven Rock. It's a day's walk northwest of the Citadel. I wish you luck Perry, and please give some thought to what we discussed today." Handing the OSD to Perry, he felt an overwhelming sense of pride in the man before him. He would be honoured to have him as a son in law, if he accepts… no he will accept. Perry has always put the needs of others before himself, and the way they looked when he walked through the door… Elder Lyons could not have felt prouder than he did at that moment.

* * *

Once Perry left the Citadel, giving Sarah a very awkward goodbye, he made his way to Arlington Library to find Fawkes and ask him to join. He wanted Fawkes to come with him on the search if only so they could have a chance to talk about the FEV. Simply getting Fawkes to leave Washington seemed like the best choice, but he was still banishing him away from the only home he's ever known… _sounds familiar._

Stepping into the Library he was once again greeted by Scribe Yearling and her guards.

"Good to see you Wanderer, any new books to trade?"

"No not today, I just came in to see if my friend was still here."

"The mutant? Yes, he's up in the children's section. Apparently there's an old poem he's trying to find."

Perry went deeper into the library, the burnt corpses of dead raiders and super mutants left scattered over the ground. The Brotherhood must have hated the smell left over after Perry purged the building when he was first here. Finding the children's section he called out into the corridors. "Fawkes? Are you in there?"

A low rumble shook the floor; step after step of Fawkes powerful legs strained the rotten floorboards as he made his way to Perry.

"My old friend! It is good to see you again." Perry smiled at the familiar sight. Fawkes hadn't changed at all. He still wore the torn vault suit Perry found him in and still spoke in the same low, struggling voice. _It wouldn't be easy to talk without lips,_ Perry thought.

"It is good to see you as well Fawkes, how have you been?"

"Excellent! There are so many stories in this place, adventure, mystery and knowledge. More than the computer in the vault. Come! I want to show you some." Perry followed Fawkes into one of the rooms lined with shelves. It seems Fawkes had done his best to tidy the place up as best he could. Fawkes always did have an admiration for knowledge.

"Here, this one," Fawkes said as he pulled one book down from the top shelve. "It is called Ulysses. Open it."

Perry opened the poem book and found the section titled Ulysses. With urgings from Fawkes, he read the poem aloud.

"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink  
Life to the lees; all times I have enjoy'd  
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those  
That loved me, and alone."

Fawkes gave a satisfied hum as Perry read the poem.

"For always roaming with a hungry heart  
Much have I seen and known; cities of men  
And manners, climates, councils, governments,  
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all."

Perry knew if Fawkes still had lips he would be smiling.

"It's beautiful Fawkes, one of your favorites?"

"Indeed. It makes me want go exploring myself. To see more besides the same ruins and bloodshed." Perry stiffened from hearing Fawkes say that. _If there was ever a time now would be it._

"Well Fawkes that will make what I'm about to say much easier."

"What is that my friend?"

Perry took a deep breathe.

"Before I came here I visited the Brotherhood of Steel, they told me something that you need to hear." Fawkes simply stared in silence at Perry; the only noise he made was his own heavy breathing. "They have found a way to kill every super mutant in Washington with an airborne virus… you included." Fawkes made a low grumble of understanding.

"I see, so if I stay…?"

Perry simply nodded.

Fawkes then turned and examined his walls of books; it was difficult for Perry to know what Fawkes was thinking when his face could not show any emotions.

"I have learnt much travelling with you, my friend. I understand why this is necessary." Fawkes turned back around and stood directly in front of Perry. "I will leave. It will give me a chance to know more of this world. And I will not return."

"You don't have to go just yet. They aren't going to launch the virus for a couple of weeks. So I was wondering if you could help me with something before you left. For old times sake?" Fawkes hummed a satisfied response.

"Very well my friend. For old times sake."

* * *

Perry and Fawkes had been travelling for a full day before making camp. Fawkes naturally brought his Gatling Laser and a large satchel of supplies while Perry brought his usual arsenal. As they ate, they traded stories of the things they have been doing since the Adams Air Force battle. Fawkes had found a large collection of stories, some classic, others interesting, but as with most man made things, the majority were rubbish.

"Well Fawkes that's not very surprising. Mankind can only advance so far, but the depths to which we can sink? Well… just look around us."

Fawkes hummed his approval.

As Perry fell asleep Fawkes kept watch, super mutants didn't need sleep as much as humans did. When light broke the horizon, they set off northwest again. By late afternoon, they finally arrived at their destination; a large rocky hill which led down into a very dark tunnel. An Enclave camp was stationed directly above the caverns entrance on a ledge. Approaching cautiously, they could see no signs of soldiers or scientists.

"Where are they?" Fawkes asked.

"No idea, they couldn't know we were coming so I doubt there's an ambush. Stay back, I'll check it out." Fawkes grumbled his acknowledgement.

Perry had The Terrible Shotgun in his hands as he slowly stepped into the Enclave camp. It was definitely deserted and no larger than the other scout camps he has encountered before. This one was different though. The first and most obvious difference, there were no bodies. If the soldiers were attacked then he would have found some sign of their corpses. There were laser shots on the rocky walls so there must have been a battle.

_Couldn't have been the brotherhood otherwise they would have told me…_

Perry noticed a single computer in the camp. Turning it on, he examined the reports left over by the Enclave.

_Subject v.509_

_We recovered the body of a scientist from the purity project. Turns out he came from Vault 101, President Eden ordered us to preserve and transport the body to Raven Rock for experimentation on non-mutated humans. The brass get twitchy when Eden uses any of the Enclave soldiers for this. But I think Eden may be asking too much of us, we have to look after this tube while also researching the Deathclaws? Least it won't take long for another crew to come pick up the body. Haven't done so yet but it shouldn't take looooojgfa4iengfeawrajrn_

Perry stood up from reading the computer and realized what was going on.

_Deathclaws_._ Why did it have to be Deathclaws?_

Perry waved to Fawkes to let him know it was safe, as he approached Perry informed him of what was going on.

"They were killed by Deathclaws." Fawkes said, more of a statement than a question.

"Most likely."

"Then where is your father?"

"Deathclaws like to gather their food into one spot and store it. It's possible they couldn't open the tube my father was in and so simply pulled it into their nest for other attempts. Meaning…"

Fawkes clamped his arm on Perry's shoulder in comfort.

"We will find him my friend. Shall we travel together once more into darkness?"

Perry smiled up at his companion and cocked his shotgun.

"Let's."

They both walked down the cliff and entered the pure darkness of the cave. Perry was tempted to turn his light on but he then might as well have put up a sign saying free buffet. Walking slowly being careful not to make too much noise, they descended deeper into the cavern, weapons at the ready and nerves on edge.

Perry could barely see but his helmets HUD could make out some shapes in the darkness. A scratching noise could be heard ahead of them. They both immediately raised their respective weapons and stood completely still, waiting for the familiar hulking form and razer sharp claws.

It never came.

Moving forward once more, they kept their ears open for any more sounds, for the slightest indication that death was about to strike. Every muscle in Perry's body was screaming at him to turn and flee, the cold sweat on his forehead doing little to help his nerves. But for every step forward, another step was being made right behind him. The sound of his friend there to help him pushed him forward. They had faced terrible foes before, they will do so again.

A stomach wrenching stench slithered into Perry's nostrils, the smell of guts, rotten blood and bile was in the air. They had found a feeding ground.

Motioning to Fawkes, Perry pointed towards the source of the stench. Nodding, Fawkes moved with Perry around a large rocky pillar and found the corpse pile. There were the ripped apart bodies of wastelanders, the headless corpses of Enclave soldiers and scientists but no sign of James.

To Perry's surprise, among the discarded weapons and ammo was a small vaultboy bobble head. Lowering his weapon, he leant down and picked it up examining the writing and chuckling to himself.

"And to think, I've been collecting these for…" Before Perry could finish his sentence, faster than he could think, a creature of shadow leapt from the darkness, grabbed him effortlessly and sped once more into nothingness.

* * *

**A/N: Oh no! Something terrible has happened to Perry! What will happen next? Well be patient I'm getting there. **

**I finally decided what I'm going to do with this story so expect some big events in the next couple of chapters. As always, reviews and criticisms appreciated. **


	9. Father And The Flames

The force of his abduction knocked the wind out of Perry's stomach. As he was sped off he could hear the angry cries of Fawkes quickly disappearing into the distance. Before he could even take a breath of precious air, his head was slammed into a rock wall with the full force of the creature's arms.

Blackness.

* * *

Fawkes had to endure the sight of his only companion disappearing into darkness. He screamed, chasing after the creature only for another to rush head long into him. Fawkes threw his gun aside and collided with the Deathclaw, grabbing its claws using only his hands. Every muscle in Fawkes enormous frame tensed as he battled with the creature for supremacy. Neither able to best the other. The creature's disgusting face attempted to snap at Fawkes but could not reach him. Knowing his endurance would soon fail him, Fawkes lifted one leg onto the creatures chest and summoning every once of strength in his body, pulled the creatures arms apart from its shoulders.

Roaring in triumph, Fawkes picked up his gun and charged forth. His peaceful mind was now gone, there is only the blood fury.

* * *

Perry's head felt five times too large for his helmet. He could hear his heart beating slowly in his ears, for every beat it sent another rush of pain. He didn't know where he was, all he could tell was that he was lying on his stomach atop some glass floor. He couldn't think straight, everything was a haze.

Why was he here? He could not even fathom the question. He slowly opened his eyes, everything was fuzzy but he could make out a face. A familiar face…

As the image cleared, there was his father. His face was looking up at him, his eyes were closed. He was so pale, so still.

Perry suddenly realised where he was, he was lying atop his father's preservation tube. A Deathclaw must have left him there. His visor was broken, his helmet was dented and he could barely move but his father was here. He never thought he would see him again…

He looked so much like he did all those months ago. But no, he was pale and… still. Perry could not believe how still he was. The liquid morphed his greyish hair atop his head but his face didn't move an inch. He looked so serene that Perry was almost waiting for him to simply open his mouth and speak to him. He wanted him to; he needed to hear his voice. The voice of reason and guidance, just once more… please. Just once more…

With more effort than he remembered it took, Perry brought his hand up and rested it atop the glass.

"Father…" He whispered.

He couldn't say another word. But he needed to talk to him. He spoke to him inside his head. He knew it didn't make sense but he didn't care.

_Father, what do I do? Where do I go from here? I'm lost… I don't know what to do._

The face didn't move. No response, only silence.

No, not silence. There was screaming, roaring, and the sound of bones being broken. There was a battle somewhere.

* * *

Fawkes held down the trigger of his Gatling Laser and roared in fury as the group of Deathclaws charged at him. Each of them was cut down before his might. If one reached him then there was no one left to save his friend. He swirled around and fired as more tried to attack him from the rear, he kept moving. He didn't know where he was going.

But he was going to rip the hands off every monster in this cave if he had to.

* * *

Perry slowly brought his pipboy up to his face. He managed to force his other hand up and pathetically pressed a few buttons. He had to set off a signal, he couldn't get out the way he was now. He attempted to turn on his pipboy light, the button jammed.

_Stupid… fucking… light… TURN ON!_

He pressed as hard as he could and was temporarily blinded as the light shown into his unprotected eyes.

* * *

In the corner of Fawkes vision he could see a light shining behind a rocky pillar. Recognising the green glow, he rushed towards it and found his friend lying atop a glass and metal tube. They had found their target.

"My friend! Are you alright?" Perry could barely move; the blow to the head had likely concussed him. "Don't worry my friend. I'll carry you." Bending down he wrapped one enormous arm under the tube and groaning under the pressure, managed to lift both Perry and his father onto his shoulder. "Ready yourself!"

With one arm keeping the tube steady and the other holding the Gatling Laser, Fawkes began to move back the way he came. Perry was having trouble staying on but would not die now after everything he's done. More Deathclaws attacked Fawkes who quickly cut them down but more and more seemed to suddenly show up. Fawkes knew they had to leave immediately. He dropped his gun and with both hands keeping the tube steady he ran through the darkness.

Perry noticed a large Deathclaw, almost double the size of an ordinary one, had decided to intervene and was chasing Fawkes behind them. He reached down onto his waist and felt for the unfamiliar shape.

_Now is as good a time as any._

He released the Alien Blaster from its holster and took aim at the creatures head. The device radiated an eerie blue as it charged; the lights ran down the length of the barrel before reaching the end forming a blue orb that shot out and impacted the Deathclaws head. The creature roared in pain but continued its chase.

_Alright tough guy._

Perry turned a small knob on the side of the gun and it began to glow brighter. It shook in his hands and Perry could hear his Geiger counter begin to tick. Fawkes had managed to find the exit and was rushing up a rocky slope out of the cave. But Perry wasn't done yet. He aimed at the creature's chest; it was just about to reach them…

_Bang…_

An enormous wave of crackling blue energy shot out of the gun, enveloping everything in its path. The Alpha Deathclaw was obliterated but the wave didn't even slow down. It continued into the cave, washing over every rock and pillar turning every piece of organic matter into ash. The room shook, boulders fell from the ceiling as the cave couldn't handle the punishment and began to collapse.

_So that's what that did. Not too shabby. _

Perry watched over Fawkes shoulder as the cave behind them gave in. As the entrance to the cave rushed past him, a cloud of dust rocketed out obscuring his vision.

They had made it.

Moving far away from the cave but still too close for Perry's liking, Fawkes set both father and son down on the ground. He lifted Perry off the tube and set him down on his back to rest. He fell asleep immediately.

* * *

When Perry finally felt himself begin to wake, he slowly opened his eyes and saw the sun resting on the horizon. He must have slept through the day and night. He cautiously leant up and saw Fawkes standing there watching over him.

Struggling to talk Perry said "You know Fawkes… it's always creepy when you… watch me sleep like that." Fawkes gave a worried hum.

"I am sorry my friend, but you were unconscious for some time. I was concerned." Perry fumbled with his helmet and managed to slide it off his head.

"Sleeping all night isn't that long."

"My friend, that star is setting not rising. You have been asleep a full day."

Perry looked at the sun and realized that Fawkes was right; it was setting on the horizon.

"Oh. Well thankyou for looking after me Fawkes. I couldn't have done this without you." Fawkes gave a satisfied hum.

"I am glad we had one, last adventure together. Even as I travel, I know I will miss this place." Perry looked up at Fawkes and wished there was another way.

"I'm sorry."

"Do not apologise my friend. My kind must be exterminated. No, leaving this place is not something I regret. Simply that I leave the ones I knew here." Perry looked away and out towards the Wasteland. He has seen so much of this place, what is left here for him?

Perry then looked at the metal and glass tube that his father was encased in. His father was the only person he ever felt close to, the only person that Perry relied on when now everyone else relies on him. It was then that Perry realised something.

He was alone.

It had never truly sunk in until now. When his father died, Perry's only real link to others died with him. Even among others, he was alone. Even with friends, he was in isolation. He couldn't stand it. He locked himself away and travelled alone because he wanted to actually be isolated rather than feel isolated. He was always the outsider. In the vault, in Megaton, in the Brotherhood; always alone.

There was no worse feeling than being completely alone in a room full of people.

He knew why he wanted a child. He wanted to feel the kinship that only family can bring. To talk to someone who could understand him better than anyone else. Just like his father.

_You selfish prick._

He stood up and approached his father's corpse. He looked down at him remembering all the time they spent together. His earliest memory was when he slipped in their room and smashed his chin against the floor. He was bleeding badly and was screaming in pain. His father was there to pick him up. Even then, and always afterwards.

Fawkes walked up beside Perry.

"What will you do my friend?" Perry said nothing. "I read that it is normally a tradition to bury loved ones. Is that what you are planning?" Perry shook his head.

"No, I know what he'd want me to do." Perry picked up his shotgun and using the handle of the gun, he smashed the glass to pieces. The liquid poured out leaving James lying there soaked. Perry leant down and picked up his father's corpse. The strong smell of the liquid filled his nostrils but he didn't care. He looked out into the horizon and noticed a small ruined house not too far away. Motioning to Fawkes, he walked towards it as Fawkes picked up their weapons and supplies. They both walked in silence.

Perry made sure his steps were careful as to not shake his father around too much. Once they reached the house Perry told Fawkes to stay outside. He walked inside carrying his father; he walked up the stairs and found the master bedroom. Placing his father carefully on the bed he leant back and looked down at him one last time.

When Perry walked out to meet Fawkes again, he searched through his satchel and found a bottle of vodka. Ripping off a piece of cloth from Fawkes ruined vest, he slipped the cloth into the bottle. They both turned towards the building and giving Fawkes a single nod, Perry lit the cloth and threw it at the door.

The burst of flames quickly enveloped the wooden frame and slowly spread. They simply stood and watched as the hours passed and the fire destroyed the building giving James a proper cremation.

No remains. No markers. No sign he ever existed.

When night lifted and the sun stretched her rosy red fingers across the Wasteland once more, Perry and Fawkes still stood and watched. When the house was a smouldering ruin of black and ash, only then did they leave.

Perry had an answer now, he was sick of living in isolation. He would return to the Brotherhood and give Sarah her answer.

He just hoped she'd forgive him.

* * *

**A/N: I really do enjoy writing this story now that I've actually gotten to the plot. Hopefully you all enjoy reading it as I do writing it. **

**As always, reviews and critcisms appreciated (although I've yet to recieve a criticism in the reviews sections so I wonder why I bother asking haha.)**


	10. Happy Ending

Perry stood before the Citadel but was apprehensive about entering. Every step brought him closer to Sarah who despite everything Perry had faced and defeated now seemed like the most terrifying creature in existence. _How quaint. _

Perry stood alone. Fawkes had returned to the Library to collect his possessions and was going to meet him at Megaton the next day. Perry had a plan now, a direction that he had decided. No more taking orders, no more simply drifting from one problem to the next.

It was time to take control.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the still present headache from the Deathclaw, he entered the Citadel. Immediately he was greeted by Paladins who Perry simply gave a brief nod of acknowledgement before walking further towards the Den. The next thing he knew, he stood before the closed door of the Lyon's Pride briefing room. The guards saluted.

"Apologies Sir, but the Pride are discussing battle plans at the moment and asked that no one be allowed to enter."

Perry turned his vacant gaze towards the guard and simply said "Make an exception."

The guard stood straighter and responding noticeably quieter "Well… I suppose you are a member of the Pride. Yes, go right ahead Sir."

Perry entered the room without another word.

Sarah stood before a map of the Capitol Wasteland and was highlighting locations. "Our first drop zone with the package will be vault 87, that's their breeding grounds. Projected wind patterns will spread the virus east but unfortunately will not make it across to Washington D.C." She turned around and noticed Perry. At that moment she was tempted to stall the briefing but decided against it. She continued as if she didn't notice him. "In order to make up for this, we have decided upon 3 drop locations in and around Washington D.C. In the event we encounter heavy resistance, we have designed gas grenades filled with the virus. We do not know how fast the virus will spread or even how far. But we are the Lyon's Pride and we will be prepared, no matter the outcome. Dismissed."

Each Knight and Paladin stood from their chairs and filed out. All of them knew of Perry's presence as soon as he entered the room, but they knew better than to get distracted while Sarah was speaking. A few gave him a respectful nod and Colvin even gave him a pat on the shoulder as he passed. None of them said a word.

Eventually the only people left were Sarah and Perry. Neither spoke, they instead sized each other up. Sarah noticed something was different about Perry. It was his eyes. The difference was subtle but there was definitely a change there. She decided she had to break the silence… again.

"Did you find your father?"

"I did."

Waiting for a response she asked "And?"

"I cremated his body. Seemed like the right thing to do."

Sarah nodded in understanding. "Glad to hear it." She walked from the front of the room and stood in front of Perry. "Have you made a decision?"

"I did." Perry turned away from Sarah and took a few steps to put some distance between them. He spoke instead to the wall. "I'm leaving."

Perry didn't dare look at Sarah, he didn't have the courage. There was silence for a moment.

"Wha…what? Leaving?"

Perry didn't say anything. He crossed his arms and continued to ignore Sarah's gaze.

"But why? Where are you going?" She was going to wait for an answer but she was getting extremely sick of him looking away. His stance was annoying her, his armour started to annoy her, his messy hair annoyed her. Suddenly everything about him was just pissing her off. "You have responsibilities here Perry! You are a part of this Brotherhood and you will damn well help it! I don't care what your reasons are, you will fall in line!"

Perry slowly turned and finally faced Sarah. Bluntly he responded "No."

She had not expected this. Everything she knew about Perry told her he would accept. She had never trusted anyone as much as she trusted him. He was always willing to help, always willing to make things better no matter the cost. Why was he leaving the Brotherhood… why was he leaving her?

Something stirred inside Sarah, it was the same feeling she had when she fought. Fury.

She took a step towards him and tried to make herself sound as threatening as possible. "If you leave I _will_ kill you."

"You would fail."

Sarah didn't say anything. She knew he was right. She glared at him, trying to match whatever look Perry was giving her in response. It was then she became aware of something, his eyes spoke of things she wasn't aware of yet. They seemed to say that he wanted to tell her something but he was just waiting for her to relax.

Whatever he wanted to say it was not something he could do while she was angry at him. Her curiosity got the better of her. Taking a step back, Sarah turned around. She took slow deep breathes to calm the fire in her veins. She was acting like a rejected teenager, it was time to shape up and be the soldier she was raised to be.

With a final exhale she faced the Lone Wanderer again; her stare told Perry that she was relaxed.

"Sarah, you've lived your whole life being guided by your father and this Brotherhood. You have always had a purpose, a goal. But more than that, you have never been alone." Perry took a step towards Sarah and let his cold exterior fall. "Do you have any idea what it's like to loose your only link to others? Would you be able to live knowing that you could never let another person into your soul? That you would always be a closed book, a locked door, alone and isolated in a room full of friends. You would be with others but up here," Perry tapped his temple "You would always be alone."

He began to pace in front of her, his words rushed out of his mouth like his venting was something he was only just realizing. "I travelled this entire Wasteland looking for a purpose, I thought I found it again when I rescued my father only to have him taken from me again. I've helped this Wasteland in every way I can but now…" he turned and saying directly to Sarah. "What is left for me? After everything I've done, _every_ person I saved, _every_ raider I killed,_ every_ settlement I protected… I'm left with nothing. No one."

Perry's tone became darker. "I have done more for this land than the entire Brotherhood ever has. Then you ask me about marriage, to live in an empty partnership of convenience… _just for the publicity._" Perry took a step closer to Sarah, his words were slow and cold once more. "I am sick of this place. I am tired of always being the one who has to make the sacrifices. I'm doing this for me, and nothing you say will change my mind."

Sarah said nothing, she had just witnessed a side of Perry she never knew existed; a darkness that seemed to mix with the goodness. She had always thought that Perry was the only wastelander to not fall prey to the evils of the wastes. But he did fall, he did loose that fight. He had only been directing it to help others. But with everything going so well there was nothing left to unleash that darkness upon except for those close to him. He needed enemies; Sarah did not want to count herself among them.

She couldn't deny him now.

Her gaze drifted down to the floor, she felt so ashamed for asking so much of him. She couldn't bare it. She immediately turned and stormed out of the Den leaving Perry behind. She headed directly for her quarters and slammed the door behind her. Confusion, guilt, anger, so many emotions seemed to inhabit her heart that it felt like it was fit to bursting. She wanted to hit something but all she could do was stand alone in her room and stare into nothing.

After a few minutes she could hear the door open. She was tempted to scream at whoever entered to leave but instead did nothing. She was expecting her father, but instead a gentle metal hand rested on her shoulder. The colour was unmistakable. The figure drew close behind her but was moving slowly, like it was careful not to upset her further. She didn't know why she did it, but at that moment all the pent up emotions took control and she turned and kissed the Lone Wanderer. Passion took control and it did not let go til morning.

* * *

Perry sat on the edge of the bed looking down at the floor. Sarah was lying asleep on the bed. He wasn't sure how it happened; it just happened. That was the first time it had not been a conscious decision, even now he wasn't even sure what the whole thing meant. Was it love? Stress relief? Had he finally learnt how to let someone in by simply letting go?

Whatever it was, it was going to be the last time. Perry had said he was leaving, but he never told her where. Even he didn't know where, no one does. At least while they're alive… everyone finds out eventually.

Blackhawk was in Perry's hand, he was tired… so very tired. He was tired of this wasteland, he was tired of the Brotherhood, he was tired of being alone… he was tired of himself.

He raised the gun up; soon he will stop being tired. Soon he will finally be able to rest. He pressed the barrel against his temple…

_There was a flash; someone had pushed his hand down away from his temple. Everything was blackness… except for a glowing being before him. The one that stopped him. He looked up, there was the familiar face. Same beard, same grayish hair, same calming eyes. He had a sad smile on his face, disappointment? No… worry. Those eyes said that he would never be disappointed in him, he would always be proud of him. Not just of what he has done, but who he was. A good person._

_Perry was lost in those eyes. They seemed to envelop his whole world. In them he could see things, things yet to be. Rolling fields of green, blue skies, thriving towns. Safety. Because of him. _

_Standing in the field was a figure dressed in his armour. A woman. She watched over this land in his place. She has his eyes. People will always say she has his eyes. Alexa._

_The image seemed to disappear into the distance, he felt like he was being pulled back._

Perry opened his eyes and felt the gun still pressed against his temple. He was sweating profusely. What just happened?

He slowly lowered the gun; his bones seemed to creak from the effort. The room seemed so quiet, the only noise being the gentle breathing of Sarah on the bed… But no, not just Sarah. There was another being there now. A part of him. His legacy.

He stood up and quietly approached Sarah's desk. He sat down and using only the light of his pipboy wrote a letter for Sarah to find. Once he was done he dressed in his armour, all except his helmet and gloves. He stroked Sarah's hair and smiled when she hummed but surprisingly she turned around and smiled up at him.

They looked into each other. Was he supposed to say something?

No, there are no words left to say.

He pulled his gloves on and grabbing his remaining gear he walked towards the door, he looked back one last time. Sarah was sitting up on her side watching him go. The moment seemed to last forever. As does every final moment. Perry faced the door, stepped through and was gone.

* * *

**A/N: If you're looking forward to more chapters then don't worry, I have more to write about. The title is actually a song that inspired this scene in my head, so this isn't actually the ending. If I had the know-how I would have made a video of this scene with the music as it brings across the feelings I want to convey. I'm not entirely sure I do a satisfactory job of that using only text. But hopefully you'll enjoy it regardless. **

**Thanks for reading and as always reviews are appreciated. **


	11. Journal of The Defender

_Dear Diary,_

_Things are really starting to pick up around the Capitol. Those New California Republic scouts caused a big stir amongst the Brotherhood. They were here to investigate Washington, something about reclaiming the Capitol of America as inheritance for her children or some crap. They never thought this place would be so alive that's for sure. They're having a meeting with mother about it._

_I got a chance to talk to one of them. They were expecting total ruin, Washington was one of the hardest hit places during the Great War, and they never expected the plants or communities that have sprung up over the decades. I asked him about the NCR, I had read some bits about them in the Citadel archives and from the Scribes but I couldn't miss this chance to ask. Apparently they stand up for the "Old World Values" of democracy and the rule of Law. While that's noble they were getting a bit too big for their own good._

_So of course they decided to expand and seek out the Capitol. It would certainly look good for them as remnants of the United States to reclaim Washington. But despite the plant life and communities they were more shocked by us. Apparently the Brotherhood in the West has fallen on hard times. They said Elder Sarah Lyons must be the most successful Brotherhood leader they ever saw. I felt really proud of Mum when he said that. _

_Speaking of Mum, she said there was something she needed to talk with me about today. It was my 18__th__ birthday a few days ago and she's almost never this secretive; unless it's about my father. I'm hoping now I'm 18 she'll finally tell me who he was. I've asked her again and again over the years and all she's ever told me was "You'll know when you're ready." It must be now, must be!_

_For the last 13 years, ever since I was 5, mother has trained me. She has been harder on me than most of the other initiates and at the time I practically despised her for it. But now that I'm older I'm starting to see the value of that training. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. _

_I'll write again when she's finally done with the NCR and we can talk. I sure hope I don't find out I'm the result of some drunken night out with some random guy. Would explain why she's so reluctant to tell me, shame perhaps? I guess we'll see._

_Alexa_

_April 16__th__, 2297_

* * *

Alexa leant back in her seat and read over her computer diary. She checked and fixed any grammar and spelling errors she found. Not exactly a vital issue when it came to writing a personal diary but her mother was very strict on just about everything she learnt. Absolute perfection was always the standard. It was a bit too much when she was young but it's surprising what you can get used to.

Once she was done she encrypted the files so no one could read it and shut the computer down. She stood up and looked around her room. The book shelf was still neat, her bed was still made, and her desk was still tidy. Not much to do for the moment. She walked towards her gun cabinet and pulled out her sniper rifle, she decided it could use a bit of cleaning so she grabbed a piece of cloth and started to scrub.

These days there wasn't much left to shoot, besides the occasional wandering raider and mirelurk. She considered herself lucky though. According to some of the older Knights this land was one of the most dangerous places known to the Brotherhood. Slavers, large raider gangs, super mutants and mercenaries. In her fantasises Alexa sometimes imagined herself facing off against a Behemoth. They used to stand about 15 feet tall; she couldn't imagine anything more glorious than blowing its head off and stepping on its pipe thick fingers.

This was all before the Lone Wanderer of course.

_I swear, no matter where you go in this Capitol that guy has been there. Even now people still talk about him like he's some kind of Messiah. Right, what sort of saviour just ups and leaves like he did? _

Alexa had heard just as much about the Lone Wanderer as anyone else, while she was impressed by him she couldn't ever understand what would make him leave the Capitol so suddenly. According to the Scribes one day he was there and the next people are saying he packed up and went West. According to some rumours he had a super mutant friend. In order to escape the purge 20 years ago he had to leave, so the Wanderer went with him. That's the theory anyway, she has heard some other ridiculous things like he was abducted by aliens to create some super soldier and will return to destroy us all. A whole group had sprung up around that rumour. _Amazing what people will believe._

Alexa continued to clean her rifle when a Paladin appeared in her door and saluted.

"Elder Lyons wishes to speak with you, Ma'am."

Alexa looked up and smirked. "Jacob, you don't need to keep calling me that."

"Force of habit, Ma'am."

Alexa shook her head in amusement. She put her rifle back in the cabinet and made her way to the Den. Once she arrived she could see the NCR scouts leaving, they looked unsatisfied about something. She entered and found her mother seated at the back as usual. Along the walls was the interactive holo-map of the Capitol along with the usual round table that the Pride seated themselves in. Her mother sat at the other end of the room, a desk slighter higher above everyone else. She wore the typical gray-blue robe which grandfather once wore.

She seemed so exhausted, no doubt those NCR are causing more trouble than she's used to these days. Sarah looked up and a smile spread across her wrinkled face. She wasn't as old as her face suggested, only 46. But Alexa imagined that such responsibilities have a habit of aging you before your time.

Worried, Alexa asked "Mum, are you okay? Have you gotten much rest lately?"

Sarah chuckled. "Alexa, if I took a nap every time I was tired the Brotherhood might as well become my nursery. I'll get plenty of rest when I die."

"I wish you'd stop talking like that, mother."

"And I wish you'd stop calling me 'mother' to show you're mad at me."

Alexa couldn't help but let a smile betray her false anger. She always smiled every time someone caught her true intentions. Definitely didn't help when she played poker with the other Paladins.

"Okay, okay. What did those NCR scouts want? They didn't seem happy when they left."

Sarah looked down at the papers in front of her clearly apprehensive about something. "They plan to annex Washington D.C. Apparently just taking land from others is easier than diplomacy."

Alexa's eyes widened at the news. "What? What did you tell them?"

"I told them I'd think about it."

"So essentially you told them to go to hell?"

"More or less."

_Typical mum._

Alexa sighed at the news and approached Sarah's desk. "Do you really think they'd attack though? That's a bit extreme and we'd be more than a match for them."

Sarah looked up at Alexa with sad eyes. "It's not a case of whether we can beat them; it's a case of how many people would die pointless deaths in the process."

Alexa hummed her approval. Mum was always so sorrowful whenever a mission went badly and someone dies. She was a hard woman, but still a sympathetic one; an odd contradiction that she could somehow balance. Alexa crossed her arms and let the silence set in. Sarah gazed at her and could sense her motive.

"I suppose you want to know what I called you here for."

Alexa shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? The suspense is killing me."

Sarah let out a short sigh and stood from her chair. She walked around the desk and stood face to face with Alexa, not as a leader but as a mother.

"I said I would tell you everything when you were ready. I realise now is that time. No more secrets. What do you want to know?"

"Who was my father?" She had other questions but they could wait. This is what she wanted to know more than anything else.

Sarah turned and paced around the room as she spoke. "Your father… is a difficult man to describe. He was many things: a hero, a soldier, compassionate… but there was also darkness there. You must understand these were terrible times before you were born. Even he couldn't hold out against everything the Wastes threw at him." No one ever calls the Capitol 'The Wastes' anymore. It simply refers the dark time around 20 years ago. Now it is simply 'The Capitol'.

"You're still not telling me who he was. If I was just a mistake you can tell me, I can handle it."

Sarah stopped pacing and faced her. "Alexa, you were no accident. You were unplanned, but not an accident. I never regretted what happened with your father; he had to leave for his own reasons."

"And what reasons are they?"

"It is probably best I show you." Sarah walked behind her desk and opened one of the drawers; from it she extracted a small lockbox. Pulling out a key ring she flicked through them until she found the right one and opened the box. Alexa walked over and could see inside was a folded piece of aged paper. Sarah carefully picked it up and handed it to Alexa. She placed it down on the desk and started to read.

* * *

_Sarah,_

_I told you I was leaving, but I never told you where or why. I think its best I do. I want to tell you in person but after what happened I'm not sure I could express the right words. Know this, I do not regret what happened, I suppose it was only right that we become as close as possible before we __part ways. To live our lives, but not together. I carry you with me, never forget that. Just as you now carry a part of me. _

_When I said I was leaving, I will be honest and admit I had resigned myself to death. I tried to kill myself moments ago. But something stopped me. I do not know if it was divine intervention or my chaotic mind playing tricks on me but I saw someone. A woman, she had blonde hair like yours but was untidy like mine. Our child Sarah, I saw our daughter. If this becomes a reality and is not just the ramblings of a crazy man, then I ask that you call her Alexa. It means 'Defender'._

_This seems appropriate considering the legacy she will have to bear. _

_I know I am burdening you with this but I want to ask something of you; train her. Prepare her as best you can in every way you can. She will have to take on my mantle some day, we both know that. Our child is destined for greatness. When you believe she is ready, send her to Megaton. I have some gifts I will leave behind to help her. I do not know where I am going, most likely West. _

_I have done all I can for this Wasteland, it is time to see what else is in this world for me. They call me the Wanderer; it is time I lived up to that name._

_Perry Neeson_

* * *

Alexa looked up from the paper to her mother. "Wanderer? _The_ Wanderer? _THE Lone Wanderer?"_

Her mother simply nodded.

Alexa backed away from the paper like it was a bomb. She couldn't believe what she just read. Her _father_ was the man who saved The Capitol, made it a peaceful place and obliterated entire armies of Enclave and Super Mutants. Her father was the legend of the Wastes.

She didn't know what to feel. It was like a hurricane was raging around her insides, mixing and throwing emotions everywhere. She was the daughter of the wanderer… her, Alexa, was his child. No matter how many times she thought it, it just wouldn't click in her mind. She couldn't accept it.

"Bullshit, this is some sick joke right? What the hell is going on?"

Sarah tried to approach and calm her daughter, she understood it was a lot to take in. "Alexa this is the truth, I have never lied to you… except when you asked me where babies came from at the age of 7. Please, calm yourself."

Alexa backed away from her. "Why? Why didn't you tell me? You let me go this long without knowing, why?"

Sarah had such an ashamed look on her face. "I didn't know how to tell you. The older you grew, the harder it became." She collapsed onto the nearest chair and hung her head. "I'm so sorry."

Alexa had never seen her mother like this. She was always so strong, so determined. She was the pillar on which Alexa could always lean on. But here she was, ruined by the shame of her secrecy. Not shame of what she hid, but shame that she hid it. Alexa knelt down and placed her hand on her mothers shoulder.

"Mum… I'm the one that's sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you. This is… just, wow. I never expected this. But, that's no excuse."

Sarah looked up and gave that same sad smile to her. "Thankyou."

"So… what now then?"

Sarah stood up and wiped her eyes. "That's up to you, dear." She placed both her hands on Alexa's shoulders. "Your father believed you have a great destiny ahead of you. I knew the moment I saw you he was right… you have his eyes you know. Through them I can see his spirit lives in you. Whatever you decide to do, know that I've always been proud of you Alexa." She then leaned forward and hugged her daughter. "And I always will."

She returned the hug, if a bit awkwardly. Her mother almost never showed affection like this. Alexa liked it.

* * *

Alexa travelled alone now, on her way to Megaton. Knowing the truth about her father made her want to find out what he left for her. She also wanted to see what Megaton was actually like. She had performed routine water delivery a few times but they never went inside. It was a rather large town compared to most of the settlements around the Capitol, partly because it was one of the oldest; but mostly because it was where the Wanderer lived while he was here.

Should she keep calling him that though? He was her father after all. But it still felt too weird for her. She had heard so much about him and what he had done, but almost nothing about who he was as a person.

He was still as unknown to her now as before.

Alexa properly supplied herself for the trip, while it was unlikely she was going to encounter trouble she still brought her sniper rifle and super sledge; can't be too careful. Her sniper skills were revered amongst the Brotherhood, some people joked she could shoot the hair off a ghoul from 300 feet away. But to balance out her long range skills she practiced using melee weapons. Not a very well rounded skill set but it worked for her.

The grass was light amongst the South-East parts of Washington D.C. The Treeminders speculated that they should become more prevalent in another decade or so. Ever since the plants began spreading wildly amongst the North the Treeminders grew in members. They needed the extra help to look after Harold.

Alexa had never met Harold, but practically everyone in the Capitol knew of him. When they were isolated the Treeminders believed Harold was some kind of tree-god, ever since they started accepting outsiders that belief eventually died. They still nurture and protect Harold, but they finally realize he's just a person. He's apparently a lot happier now than he was two decades ago. Again, thanks to the Lone Wanderer.

Once more there was his presence. Was there any place he left untouched?

As Alexa continued to ponder all the stories she had heard of her father, she eventually reached the southern entrance to Megaton. She was always impressed by the size of this town. It was larger than the Citadel in terms of sheer size and more protected than even Rivet City.

"Howdy partner," the robotic deputy greeted. Alexa had no doubts that several snipers were trained on her now. While the Brotherhood had the respect of the entire Capitol, they were still treated with suspicion. Having Alexa show up in power armour by herself and heavily armed would seem highly unusual to these people.

"May I go in please?"

"Sure thing, welcome to Megaton. Sheriff Harden would like to speak with you when you enter."

"I'm sure he does," she muttered as the massive doors parted. She stepped through and was surrounded on all sides by makeshift houses that stretched three stories into the air. These people certainly make use of whatever they find.

"It's not delivery time, travelling alone, armed and armoured," A dark skinned man in his early thirties approached Sarah dressed in a leather coat like one of the regulators but with a badge saying sheriff. "What's your story exactly?" He crossed his arms and waited for Alexa to explain herself.

"I'm looking for something." She responded seriously.

"We're all looking for something sugar; for example I'm looking for a replacement spring for my rifle, I'm sure yours would do nicely. Now I'll ask again, what are you doing here?"

Alexa glared at the Sheriff, his tone was starting to annoy her. But she couldn't exactly blame him. Just because things are as peaceful now as they've ever been doesn't mean you should drop your guard. It only takes one mad-man to destroy a town.

"Since you're so interested, I'm looking for anything that once belonged to the Lone Wanderer," Hardin seemed to stiffen at this. "I'm… I suppose you could say his heir."

Hardin dropped his arms and with his mouth slightly ajar he stepped closer to Alexa, like he was examining something.

"Well I'll be… I'd recognise those eyes anywhere. 19 years, I never thought I'd see the day." A large smile spread across his face. "I may be able to help you, please follow me." He then turned and started walking, noticeably lighter than before. Alexa followed after him. Every person she passed stared at her; she stood out very clearly in her power armour. Might have been best if she left it back at the Citadel.

Eventually the road sloped down into a large ditch; in the centre laid the inactive bomb that the town was first based around. They continued past it and walked up a steep hill; Hardin took a right and walked around one of the older looking houses in the town. He stopped before the door and surprisingly opened it and politely motioned for Alexa to enter. This was an odd change compared to how he was acting before.

She entered and was standing in a very old looking room, in the centre sat a desk. Sitting behind it was a very old looking dark man writing on some papers. Hardin stepped in and closed the door; the noise alerted the old man who then looked up from his work and examined his visitors.

"Dad, I have someone I think you'd like to meet." Hardin then faced Alexa and said "This is the Mayor of Megaton, Lucas Simms." With the introduction Alexa wanted to appear as polite as possible, so she saluted.

"Alexa Lyons of the Brotherhood of Steel."

Lucas simply smiled at the salute. "Lyons eh? So you're Sarah's daughter." He slowly stood from his chair and stood before them. "So what exactly is the purpose of this visit? Has the purifier shut down again and shipments will be late?"

Alexa relaxed but still displayed discomfort at the situation. "No, sir. This doesn't have to do with the Brotherhood. My mother did send me here, but for something else."

"And what might that…" Lucas stopped in mid-sentence. He leaned closer to Alexa just like Hardin had done. "Wait… I know you." He looked at Hardin who simply smiled and nodded at his father. Lucas turned back to Alexa and a revelation crossed his face. "It's you isn't it? You're Perry's child."

Alexa shifted on her feet. "That's what they tell me."

"If you ever met your father you'd be able to tell just by looking at his eyes. It's like I'm talking to him again for the first time in decades." A broad smile spread across Lucas' face, he then turned around and sat back down at his desk. He opened one of the drawers and withdrew a small key. Holding it up to her he said "I believe this is for you."

Alexa stepped forward and picked the key from Lucas' hand. "What's this for?"

"You don't know?"

"No sir, my mother only told me about my father this morning. I don't even know why I'm here."

Lucas leant back in his seat. "Then I suppose I should clue you in. This house you're standing in right now? He lived here." Lucas motioned his hand all around him. "Ever since we expanded and he left, we made this place the office of the mayor as well as our tribute to young Perry."

"Hold on, 'young'?"

Lucas smirked. "Yes, he was only 19 when he first showed up here. Less than a year later he left."

_What? He was only a year older than me when he did all those things people keep talking about? That's… that's just incredible._

"When we started to expand he came back to town shortly before he left for good. There was something different about him then. He asked Moira Brown, myself, and a few others to help him build something."

"What did he ask you to help him build?"

"A preservation room. It was small, locked and can only be opened by DNA recognition; doesn't have to be an exact match, just so long as it was someone who was part of his family." Lucas leaned forward. "Someone like you I imagine. I half expected him to build it for his child. He never told me, but it was quite clear."

"Now you're here," included Hardin. "So by right, what's in that room belongs to you."

"You never tried to take what was in there for yourself?"

"How could we? It was locked remember? Besides, after everything Perry did we could never betray his trust like that. No, it's meant for you."

Alexa was shocked that her father went through so much effort for this. She always thought her father would be some looser who abandoned her mother because he got her pregnant. But here he was, doing all this for the child he never knew.

"This is… all a bit much." She said.

Lucas nodded. "I can understand, but I think it's about time you opened that room and see what your father left you. Best get it over with." Lucas winked with humoured smile.

"I suppose you're right. Can you take me there please?"

Lucas pointed to a door behind him. "Just go down there; it'd be best you go alone. I know it's what Perry would want."

"I wouldn't know," she said as she walked past. She slid the key into the lock on the door and entered. Both Lucas and Hardin looked at each other.

"Sure that's really his kid?" Hardin asked his father.

"Positive. There's no mistaking that look in her eye."

Alexa walked down the stairs that descended surprisingly deep underground. Eventually the stairs stopped and she was greeted by a short corridor ending with a very large and heavy looking door. She walked towards it and looked around trying to figure out how to open it.

She noticed there was a slot in the door that was large enough to fit her hand through. Looking at her hand and clenching her fingers, she decided if she had come this far it was time to go further. Alexa removed her glove and slowly slid her palm into the slot.

A metallic claw seemed to come out of nowhere and held her hand in place.

"Please remain still." A robotic voice said somewhere above her.

Alexa felt a small but sharp pain on the tip of her index finger. Giving a yelp in surprise and pain, she could feel droplets of blood escaping her finger.

"DNA identification confirmed. Welcome."

The claw let go and she wenched her hand free of the slot. A hiss came from the door as the pressurised seals were released. The door then slid to the left revealing a room about the same size of the one she met Lucas Simms in. Curious, she stepped inside.

Along the walls were glass covered shelves of guns, some of them types that were extremely difficult to get a hold of. A few of them even look more advanced than most ordinary weapons. Directly ahead of her was a metallic and glass tube that contained… no, it couldn't be.

T-51b Power Armour? That model was practically nonexistent on the East Coast. To her surprise there was a hand print on the breast plate. It was a white hand print with red finger tips. As she was examining the strange image the room suddenly went dark. She turned around just as a light was being shined into the middle of the room.

The light then took human shape. The man wore the same armour that was behind her, he had messy hair that looked just like hers only brown. As the final details of this man materialized, he opened his eyes…

_My god… they were right… those eyes they… look exactly like mine._

She knew immediately who this man was. This was her father.

"Do not be alarmed. This is only a holographic recording. If you managed to get in this place, then I'm assuming that makes you my child." That voice, the voice of her father. Alexa stood flabbergasted at what was happening in front of her. "I'm leaving this message for you, along with everything you find in this room." The Wanderer looked down at the floor then turned and walked toward one of the glass cases.

"I suppose… after so long it would only be natural you would resent me. I was never a part of your life. That is only natural." Alexa approached the image and tried to touch it. Her hand simply passed through. She was closer to her father than she had ever been and she couldn't even touch him.

"I left you… and your mother. But before I truly leave this place I wanted to give you something." The image then turned and faced the middle of the room. "I do not know what sort of person you'll be… yet despite that… I feel like I've known you all my life." The wanderer smiled. "You're a woman, blonde messy hair and eyes that look just like mine. I can guarantee you'll be hearing that one a fair bit. You're name is Alexa. But as a person, you're strong willed, independent, and I'm assuming you get annoyed with pleasantries, how am I doing?"

Alexa was stunned, how did he know that about her without ever meeting her?

The image chuckled. But after a moment of silence, the Wanderer looked upset. "It's sad… I decided recently that leaving this place was what I wanted… and I would do it again. I chart my own path now, and I do it with no regrets… except one." The image then walked across the room and stood before the suit of armour.

"You. I will never be able to see your smile, make you laugh, comfort your sorrow or offer guidance. I'm turning my back on the very responsibilities my own father took when he raised me. But perhaps that is why." The image then turned and faced Alexa who stood in the centre of the room. "My father died to protect me several months ago. When that happened I… something died inside me with him. My father was the only person I ever felt close to, the only person who ever understood me. When he died I lost that feeling. Ever since then… I've been completely alone. Not in body, but in spirit. Know this Alexa, there is nothing worse than feeling completely alone in a full of people. But something happened recently. I tried to kill myself and I saw him. He saved me… again. It was then I realised I was never alone, he was always with me. In my thoughts; guiding me through my memories of him."

While it was difficult to tell with the hologram, Alexa could swear there was a tear trailing down her father's cheek.

"Which is why I'm leaving this with you, my dearest child. While I may never laugh with you, cry with you, hold you or guide you… I love you, with all my heart, I love you." The image shivered.

"Father!" she screamed. But it was too late, the hologram was gone. At that moment the glass case around the power armour sunk into the floor. Alexa looked at the armour and slowly approached it. She looked at her unprotected hand and feeling a sense of kinship and purpose she had not felt in her entire life, placed her hand on the mark left by her father. She stayed like that for a time. Her father stood on this very spot and did all this for her.

Alexa felt closer to her father than she ever had. Not the idea of him, not the image of him, but the man he was. She would take up his armour; she will live up to his legacy.

She was The Lone Defender

* * *

**A/N: I had this idea floating around my head for a few weeks and just had to write it, hence the unusually quick chapter update. This is the longest chapter I've ever done and hopefully it'll be one of my best. I'll continue with Perry's journey towards the West coast, I've even thought up some encounters already. If there's a call for it, I might start up a new story that focuses entirely on Alexa, but I'd do it anyway when I eventually end this one. Yes, this story's days are numbered. How long? Guess you'll have to wait and see. But it won't be for a while, I promise. **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and as always reviews are appreciated. **


	12. Exodus of The Wanderer

Perry pressed his paint soaked hand into the metal of his armour. It was strange to think he was leaving this behind, after all it would certainly protect him from whatever awaits in the West. But he was more than capable to handle whatever he encountered and with Fawkes as company he should be safe… mostly.

He retracted his hand and examined the white print he left as his image. It wasn't enough, it needed something more. Something to show that he wasn't the pure icon that people believed he was. He had blood on his hands, a darkness in his soul. This mark had to represent that. Perry pulled a rag from the back pocket of his RobCo jumpsuit and wiped his hand clean of the paint. He didn't need to wear this jumpsuit but for some reason it seemed to help him concentrate as he worked on machinery.

Perry knelt down into his toolbox and extracted a small scalpel. He held up his cleaned hand and very lightly pierced the skin of his finger prints. The pain was sharp but grinding his teeth Perry endured it. He had endured much worse after all. The small flow of blood oozed from his fingers and as it did Perry pressed his hand once more against his armour. The blood left small red tips on his white hand print. A fine reminder that he was not pure, his duty was not clean. One day when his child takes up his armour, she will have to carry this burden.

As he stood there with his hand pressed against his image, Perry wondered if one day the woman he saw will do so as well. But what if he was wrong? What if Sarah wasn't pregnant like he thought? What if his child rejects the burden that will be placed on them? It would only be natural for them. Perhaps he was placing too much on the child's shoulders.

Why should anyone except him carry it?

Because there is nothing left for him. Because after everything he had done it was time to chart a new course. He needed to be free.

Free… Perry was a shattered, miserable vessel of sorrow, anger, darkness and regret… but he was free.

Already his mind seemed to clear, his darkness slowly faded. Yes, this is what he needed.

"Wow, you are really going to miss that armour huh?"

Perry looked over his shoulder and saw Moira Brown watching him with a smirk on her face. Slightly embarrassed, Perry looked back to his suit and gazed into his helmet's visor.

"I'm just… thinking. After everything that's happened, I'm never going to see this place again."

Moira strolled towards Perry and stood next to him. "Awww, you going to miss us Perry?"

"Partly… but mostly I'm relieved. I need this. I need to get away." Perry's hand was still pressed against his armour.

Moira raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "Uh-huh, so you're running then? From Washington? Or here," Moira tapped Perry's head with a look of concern. "You do know that's the one place you can't run from right? _Or_ fight?"

At last Perry removed his hand and faced Moira. "I know, like you tell me I need to embrace myself. But that's hard to do, especially when I'd kill someone like me if I ever met him."

Looking up at Perry with a soft smile, Moira shook her head. Reaching up she cupped his cheek. "Perry, Perry, Perry… I'm going to miss you. Remember all the time we spent writing the Wasteland Survival Guide?"

"Oh yes, how could I forget? When you asked me to irradiate myself I just sat in the pond around the bomb for three hours."

Moira laughed. "Yes! Everyone was making fun of you, saying you looked like a wet mutant dog with a death wish. I tried to explain you were helping but all they said was that you were some crazy vault kid who was going to get himself killed. How times change eh?"

Perry chuckled at the memories. "Indeed, how things change. Too bad that smiley stitch you gave me won't though." Moira smiled and performed an over dramatic gasp.

"What? But it's so cute! What girl wouldn't love it?" Perry decided to keep Sarah's reaction to himself.

"Umm, yeah." Silence set in. For some reason it felt good to reminisce with an old friend. But thinking back, Perry realised he had forgotten something. "Moira, can I ask a favour of you?"

"Anything Perry."

"When you have the time, could you fulfil a promise I made to a friend of mine?"

Moira became excited at the prospect of meeting more of Perry's friends. "Of course! What do you need me to do?"

"Don't suppose you have any old radios lying around do you?"

"I believe I can dig one up, who am I meeting?" She asked enthusiastically.

"His name is Harold he's… well different let's just say." Perry rummaged through his pockets and pulled out the small bear charm that Yew gave him. Handing it to Moira he said, "Here, you'll need this to get in. Just… when you get there don't say anything about the Mole experiment. They're quite attached to animals."

Moira examined the charm and immediately recognised it. "Hey, isn't this the necklace that raider had?"

Perry winced at the memory. "Yes, I gave it to a raider I saved to show she was a friend, but turns out it didn't do any good. Hopefully, it will this time."

With a smile Moira stashed the necklace in her pocket. "After everything you've done for us Perry, I'll be happy to help." Moira then walked towards a large box towards the back of the room. "By the way, I had some luck with that holoprojector you asked me to make. Some of those Enclave meanies had some _very_ interesting tech on them."

"Good, can it record?"

"It's all good to go; I'll just hook up the cameras to the ceiling, one sec."

As Moira attached the cameras to the upper corners of the room Perry paced around the room. He examined the weapon stockpile he was leaving behind. Everything except the Terrible Shotgun, Blackhawk and A3-21's plasma rifle. Perry was anxious about leaving the Alien Blaster behind but he was more concerned about it getting into the wrong hands.

Moira climbed down her ladder and turned to Perry. "Okay, all set. What exactly do you need this for Perry?"

Now that the time had come Perry wasn't quite sure how to begin. "It's just to set out her options, maybe try and explain myself."

Moira wanted a better explanation but decided to leave it at that. Nodding she said, "I see, I'll leave you be then. I'll be upstairs when you're done." She then turned and left Perry alone with his thoughts.

Perry looked down at his jumpsuit and decided to change; laziness tempted him to simply dress into something casual but he knew better. The Wanderer approached his armour and slowly equipped himself. His child will grow up hearing about him, it was only appropriate he look the part. As he pulled the last metal glove over his hand, he walked towards the box and slowly pressed the record button. He tried his best to explain himself, why he had to leave, why he was the way he was. Even as he said it nothing seemed to fit, when the recording ended and he stood facing the centre of the dark, empty room he thought of a million better things he could have said.

Like how some people are born great, some achieve greatness and some… like Alexa, have greatness thrust upon them. The way he said it, the way he was preparing for her it might seem like she had no choice in the matter.

It was inevitable that something new would threaten Washington again some day, someone had to defend it. Who better than his daughter? But he was not forcing her, simply giving her the option. Simply telling her that if she chose to accept the burden of protector that she would have the support she needed. Unlike him when he started. Perry had achieved greatness, no one would deny that. It was time to pass the torch to another.

The preservation room was still not complete, it would take at least another month which was time he did not have. The Brotherhood of Steel was launching the FEV in two days. Fawkes and Perry needed to make as much distance between them and Washington in that time.

It was time to leave.

Perry walked towards the corner of the room where he stashed his gear, checking all his guns he then picked up the combat gear given to him by Reilly's Rangers. This would be his protection on this journey. Once he was in his armour and his gear was slung over his shoulder, he walked towards the exit, took one last look back at his armoury and left saying, "Good luck."

* * *

Fawkes waited for Perry at the entrance to Megaton. The town was extremely quiet as the citizens were still over at Paradise Falls. It had surprised Fawkes how the citizens never once fired on him as he came through this town. These people certainly trusted Perry that was undeniable.

"Fawkes! All set?" He turned to the sight of his friend approaching. Surprisingly, Perry was smiling.

"Mmmm," he responded. "It is time to traverse this barren waste. I am humbled that you will join me, my friend. I only wish my weapon was not lost to me on our last adventure."

Following close behind Perry was Lucas Simms. "Well, amazing to think isn't it?" Lucas mused. "Here was where we first met, here will be the last time we see each other."

"Symmetry my friend, it's a beautiful thing." Perry looked around the town he called home. He thought it would feel the same as when he left the vault. Anxiety, stepping into the unknown, but it was different. There was no fear but excitement. He was stepping into the unknown but he was not doing it alone and most importantly; it was his choice. Of all things he could be feeling, he was excited.

"Where's Moira, isn't she going to see us off?"

"She wanted to get something, ahh here she comes." They both turned to the approaching Moira. Perry smiled when he saw what she was carrying.

"Looks like you got your wish Fawkes." He said. Moira was carrying an unusually large Gatling laser and seemed to be having trouble walking up the hill with it. Perry jogged down and assisted her up.

"Phew, thanks Perry. I was worried you were going to leave without my little gift so I carried it myself… _probably_ a bad choice." Panting, she walked up to the enormous Fawkes and unstrapped the battery pack from her shoulder. "Here you go Mr. Mutant, one new Gatling Laser, specially designed to have more kick. Sure if one of us used it we'd probably break our backs. But it should be fine for you!"

Perry could immediately tell Fawkes was pleased. He didn't easily show it but loosing his previous weapon had been a bit difficult for him. After all, it was the same weapon he had used ever since he helped Perry escape Raven Rock. It meant something.

Fawkes took the gun and tested the weight, satisfied he attached the battery to his back and with considerable effort, leant down on one knee in front of Moira.

"Thankyou human, I will not forget this gift. I only wish there was something I could have done before my time here came to an end." Moira seemed delighted.

"Wow! A super mutant bowing for me! Believe me, you have just given me something I've wanted my whole life. You take care of yourself and Perry of course. He'll probably cause more trouble than you could after all." Fawkes chuckled, he knew it was true.

Moira than walked up to hug Perry and whispered, "Take care." He returned the gesture but didn't say anything. He wasn't quite sure what to say in these situations. After she let go, Lucas approached him and extended his hand.

Smiling, Perry grasped it. "Good luck, take care of your town."

"You mean our town," Lucas rebutted.

"No Lucas, it's your town. Always has been. I just helped it along."

Lucas shook his head. "Same old Perry." Perry and Fawkes then took a few steps back towards the exit. Moira and Lucas simply watched. The Lone Wanderer and the Super Mutant both turned and never looked back.

* * *

It was a strange feeling for Perry to travel the Capitol Wasteland knowing he will not return. Somehow the rocky hills and the dead tress seemed more beautiful because of it. Everything seemed so much more significant again. The first time he saw the Wastes; he was blinded by the sun and simply stood in awe at the sight. No ceiling, no walls, no artificial light, no filtered air.

True freedom.

Least he thought it was, but no longer. He felt something close to that moment again. Not exactly the same, but close.

"Where are we going to first my friend?" Fawkes asked as they walked.

"I just need to make a visit to a couple of friends. It won't take long." The rest of the trip they travelled in silence. Before long the smashed house and large crater of the recovered Alien ship was before them. Perry looked up at Fawkes and said, "Just wait here. I'll be back soon." Fawkes nodded in response.

Not far off, a small group of Wastelanders were making camp.

"So have you guys heard the news? The Wanderer is leaving Washington!"

"Where did you hear that Cameron?" asked one of the female Wastelanders.

"Was on the radio, everyone is talking about it. Three-dog has practically been screaming for The Wanderer to visit him before he goes."

Between bites of Mole rat meat the ghoul said, "Will you smoothskins shut it? I'm trying to enjoy this."

Brant, another of the group said, "I'm surprised you wouldn't care Kennedy. After all, the Wanderer has done a lot for the ghouls. Remember Tenpenny Tower?"

Kennedy spat out a bullet into the campfire. "Oh yeah sure, I remember. Then they butchered every single smoothskin in that place. Glad to know the Wanderer is really looking out for _everyone's _best interests."

"What's up your ass?" asked the female Wastelander.

"I'm_ trying_ to enjoy my meal and you won't shut the hell up."

The female Wastelander shook her head and stood up. Walking to the edge of the camp she looked out over the Wasteland. Not too far away, she could see two figures standing near a ditch.

"Hey guys!"

"What is it Mylair?" asked Cameron concerned.

"I see a couple of people close by." While she removed a pair of binoculars, the rest of the group, excluding Kennedy who still continued to eat, moved next to her. Peering through, she described the strangers. "I see one guy who is dressed in Mercenary armour… and next to him… oh shit." The huge frame, enormous muscles, sickly yellow skin. Not good.

"Give me that!" said Brant as he snatched the binoculars from her. Peering through himself he yelled, "Oh shit it's a fucking super mutant!" Every last hand moved to their guns.

"Hold on, let me see." Passing the binoculars to Cameron, he examined the mutant and the stranger. "Wait a tic, why would a super mutant be travelling with a mercenary… unless…" Brant and Mylair gave each other relieved looks.

"It's the Wanderer and his mutant friend. Thank god for that." They relaxed but this also raised the question, "What are they doing here?"

Mylair shrugged, "Maybe they're on their way out of Washington."

"They're just standing in a ditch," rebutted Brant. "They're doing _something._"

"Want to go introduce ourselves? I've always wanted to meet the Lone Wanderer," said Mylair.

"Could do, but if you ask him to sign our copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide I will not restrain myself from smacking you in the head out of embarrassment," said Cameron.

"You coming Kennedy?" asked Brant looking over his shoulder. A single annoyed nah was the response. "Suit yourself." Together they climbed down the hill and made their way to the figures.

When they were about 50 metres away, all they could see was the Wanderer hunched over in the ditch in front of something while the mutant simply stood and watched. Before they could say anything, a bright light appeared out of nowhere. They all froze. The light beam enveloped the ditch and through the brightness they could see the human figure drifting slowly upwards before seemingly vaporising into nothing.

The mutant simply stood there while the Wastelanders couldn't believe what they just saw. Confused and frightened they simultaneously turned and fled back to their camp.

* * *

Perry always hated using this thing. Being teleported felt like he was being cut into little pieces and rebuilt in a fraction of a second. It didn't hurt, but damn did it feel weird. The Alien Captain's quarters appeared before him as he exited the teleporter and looked around. Neither Sally nor Elliot was present.

_Where are those two?_

What sounded like digital explosions could be heard behind one of the doors. Curious, Perry slowly approached the door. When it opened he found Elliot and Sally sitting on an old couch, most likely from the cargo hold, in front of what seemed to be a large, flat television on the wall. Deciding to have some fun, Perry crouched and slowly approached behind the distracted pair.

"You know you're not very good at sneaking Perry," said Sally without taking her eyes off the screen.

Caught, Perry just stood and walked in front of the two. They both had odd controllers in their hands that seemed to require both hands. They're fingers seemed to dance over the buttons. Looking up at the screen Perry could see what looked like a simulated war that these two must be taking part in.

"What exactly are you two doing?"

"Welcome back Perry," greeted Elliot. "We were having a look around for something to do when we found this." Elliot never took his eyes off the screen either. "It's some sort of simulation but you get points. It's like a game, but not a board game. It's all on this television so I called it a 'video game'. Clever hey?"

Sally took one hand off her controller and smacked Elliot's arm. "Hey! That was my name for it!"

Elliot coughed. "In any case, it gave us something to do up here." Elliot pressed one button that paused the 'video game' to the upset moans of Sally. He stood up and politely shook Perry's hand. "So what can we do for you Perry? Need anymore biogel?"

"Thankyou, I could use some but I came up here for another reason. I'm leaving." Sally and Elliot looked confused but were now focused on Perry. "I've decided I'm going to leave Washington so I thought it was only fair I come and say goodbye."

"But why?" asked Sally. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure. But I didn't want to go without letting you know I won't be coming back. There's still a whole world down there for you."

Elliot and Sally looked at each other. "Thanks Perry," Elliot said. "Maybe we'll go down one day. But for now I think we'll stay here. It's safe, plenty of food and we now have a way to pass the time. But thankyou for coming, it means a lot to know you didn't forget about us."

Perry shook Elliot's hand once more. "I did, that's why I felt bad and had to visit." Elliot chuckled.

"Hey, before you go I want to give you something." Elliot reached up and pulled a necklace with a couple of dogtags off his neck. "I want you to have these, just so you don't forget us again."

Accepting the gifts Perry said "Thankyou Elliot, it's been an honour knowing you."

"Wait, wait!" Sally yelled. She rushed off to one side of the room and came back with a small toy horse. It was metallic like some of the others Perry saw the first time he fought his way through the ship. Holding it up to Perry Sally said "My mummy and daddy gave me this before the aliens took me. Please take it with you."

Kneeling down Perry said "Are you sure you wouldn't rather keep this Sally?"

"No, you can take it. There's like a hundred of these here anyway." Perry chuckled as he accepted the metallic trinket. Walking together to the transporter, Elliot gave Perry a bag full of his adapted biogel. Standing in the glowing circle Perry gave a final wave to his friends before returning to the Earth below.

Sally and Elliot stood and watched the transporter for a time. Sally soon looked up at Elliot and said excitedly "I bet I can get the ten kill ultra achievement before you!"

Running back and leaping over the couch they grabbed their controllers. "You're on!"

* * *

**A/N: Fun fact, video games, at least how we know them today might not have existed without the Cold War. The first video game was made in 1966 to enhance a soldier's relfexes. The only way the American government acquired the technology to achieve this was due to the technology race that the Americans had with the Soviets. Because Fallout takes place in an alternate timeline from ours around the 1950's, and since we never see or hear of any mention of them, it's safe to assume video games don't exist in Fallout's universe. So for fun I thought it'd be funny to have Sally and Elliot playing a video game aboard the alien ship. The aliens must have had something to do to pass the time up there right? Besides cutting people up I mean. **

**I'd also like to take this opportunity to talk about New Vegas. In short, it's everything Fallout 3 should have been. Seriously, if you're on the fence because of the bugs everyone talks about, believe me they're worth trudging through. The story is complex, the action is solid and gives you more opportunities for varied combat, the voice acting is suberb and I experienced a moment similar to when I first left the vault but was more emotional.**

**Let me explain, the first time you leave the vault in Fallout 3 you get that wow moment where everything is in front of you. New vegas doesn't have that but it builds up for a brilliant crescendo. There might be slight spoilers here but if you've been keeping up with New Vegas it's nothing major. Eventually you choose sides between Caesars Legion, NCR and Mr. House. I liked NCR but they seemed like beaurocratic idiots. Caesars Legion was monstrous but they kept order and peace. Mr House I liked the most so I was going to side with him. Until he asked me to destroy the Brotherhood of Steel.**

**Veronica is a brotherhood companion who I had grown to really like through my journey. I had helped her with her Brotherhood quest and liked her a lot. When Mr House ordered me to destroy the Brotherhood and hence betray Veronica, I stood before the self destruct computer in their headquarters and something happened. I pulled my middle finger up at the screen and said "Fuck you Mr house, Fuck you NCR and FUCK YOU Caesars Legion." I rebelled, I did my own thing. I had accepted the believability of these factions to the point where saying Fuck you to all of them really affected me. **

**It's difficult for me to describe, but in short Fallout New Vegas is a superb game which like all previous Obsidian games is thought provoking and fascinatingly complex... but rough around the edges and sadly not completely finished. **


	13. The Mysterious Confrontation

The endless trek. No tangible thought, no known goal. Always the next step, the next hill, the next tree. On and on into the setting sun, their only guide through this poisoned land. The wind whispered of the long dead, a reminder perhaps of what will one day come? It didn't matter, nothing mattered except the next step, the next hill, the next tree.

Every day bled into the next, always the same but always changing. Sometimes they stayed in an abandoned house, sometimes under a blackened tree but every day it was still the same routine. Wake, eat, walk, rest, eat, drink, walk, walk, walk, darkness, sleep. The travellers spoke little during their time together. Every spoken word was a wasted breath from their lungs. When walking was a way of life, every breath was precious.

When food was low; they hunted. When the water was gone; they scavenged. The water wasn't always clean but they had no choice. More than once Perry fell ill to radiation sickness. When he couldn't walk, Fawkes would carry him until they flushed it from his system or simply recovered on his own. Perry was no fool; if he had attempted this journey a year ago he would already be dead.

Days turned to weeks and always Perry thought of what he left behind. What of his vault, his friends? But he would push them from his mind, the vault banished him and so he had moved on from them. His friends? They would hear of his departure and would hopefully understand. But no matter how many times he told himself to keep going, the memories slithered through his thoughts a thousand times a day. Moira was right; he couldn't escape himself.

But it was too late to go back; by now the FEV virus was flooding Washington, it was a miracle Fawkes and Perry had managed to leave in time. But why did he go through all this effort for Fawkes? Why travel with him at all? He thought to himself that maybe it wasn't so much for Fawkes as for himself. Fawkes was simply the excuse he needed.

Or maybe he did care for Fawkes? He had spent decades, perhaps longer by himself in a single room. That was isolation so horrifying it would make Perry shiver just contemplating it. Whatever loneliness Perry felt, Fawkes has known worse. Much, much worse. So Perry enjoyed his company, maybe to feel better about himself, or maybe because he felt a kinship with the isolated giant. Could be both, or neither; he couldn't tell anymore.

At long last, a landmark appeared. As the companions drew closer they could read the rotten sign say _Welcome to Illinois!_

Perry brought up his pipboy and zoomed out to a full view of the United States, they had travelled surprisingly far. But still they had found no signs of any civilization. Maybe he was wrong, maybe there was less life out West than he thought.

"Feeling lost kid?"

Perry immediately brought up Blackhawk and looked around for the source of the voice. But there was no one. He spun around and aimed behind him. Nothing. He turned back and there stood a man.

The figure was dressed in a light brown trench coat and seemingly appeared from nowhere. Perry didn't move, but he kept his sights on the man's head all the same. Fawkes growled at the figure but he simply chuckled.

"Okay kid, put your hairless poodle on a leash if you want to hear what I have to say. Besides, you wouldn't want to shoot an old friend would you?"

Perry raised an eyebrow. "Have we met?" he asked sceptically.

"Not in the _traditional_ sense, no. But I've pulled your butt out of the fire so many times the least you could do is put that gun away. You dig?"

Something clicked inside Perry's mind.

_A Super Mutant stood over him, about to bring a death crashing down. A shot is fired. The giant falls back, Perry looked over his shoulders and catches a glimpse of a man disappearing behind a building. He gets up, chases him, but as he turns the corner the alley is empty. _

_Perry ducks behind cover, the raider with the missile launcher is making the attack difficult. He was on a balcony somewhere. Perry slowly looks up in time for an explosion to blind him. He screams and falls to the ground. A shot is fired. As his vision slowly clears, he can see the raider falling from the balcony. He looks around and a trench coat figure is seen running behind a broken truck. _

"It's you…"

"Now you're getting the picture." He said with a smile.

Perry lowers Blackhawk and motions for Fawkes to relax. He backs off but it's difficult for a Super Mutant to not appear threatening to some degree.

"Who are you?"

The man pulls a cigarette out from his coat pocket and lights it up. Taking a deep drag he says, "Not important."

Irritated, Perry responds, "Then what are you doing here? As a matter of fact, why have you been helping me?"

The stranger blows a cloud of smoke seemingly taking his time. "You ask a lot of pointless questions you know that? Who is another word for what, and what I am is a man in a trench coat. Any more is not your concern."

"Then whose concern is it?"

The stranger smiled. "Now you're catching on. Let's just say my employer is heavily invested in your safety," The stranger took another drag from his cigarette. "At least for now…"

Perry was getting annoyed with his impenetrable answers. He raised Blackhawk again. "Start making sense before I loose my temper."

The Stranger simply chuckled. "Kid, I know you're a big shot where you come from but that doesn't mean you can order everyone around. I've only come to do what I've always done; to help you."

"Get on with it then." Perry still had Blackhawk aimed on the Stranger. He didn't feel threatened by this man he just felt… unnerved.

"You're lost kid, have been for a while actually but that's a whole 'nother topic. I know you want to quit but just keep on trekking. You'll find a community that grew out of a vault about three days walk from here. But only stay for as long it takes for you to resupply and recover then keep going West."

Perry could hear the genuine concern in the Stranger's voice but still wasn't convinced. "Why should I keep going West?"

The Stranger dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his shoe. "There's a friend I want you to meet. I won't spoil the surprise but let's just say I have a feeling you'll get along _just_ fine."

"Start making sense!" Perry shouted as the nervous tension built inside him.

"That's all kid, do with it what you will." The Stranger then took a step and was strolling to the back of the welcome sign. Perry had enough; he took aim at the Strangers leg and fired.

Nothing.

Did he miss? He fired again; he could see the impact of the bullet into the dirt directly behind the man's legs. He simply continued walking like nothing had happened. As he turned to walk behind the sign, he gave Perry a goodbye tap of his hat and disappeared from view. Perry ran around but of course, like so many times before, nothing was there.

He just continued to stare into the emptiness trying to figure out what happened. Fawkes slowly approached him.

Looking up at Fawkes Perry asked, "You saw him right?"

Fawkes nodded. "That I did, his presence made me… uneasy."

Perry turned back to the empty expanse. He had no real reason to not trust the Stranger; after all he had saved his life a dozen times over. But it's difficult to trust a man who never shows himself. In any case, Perry decided to follow the Strangers advice.

The companions continued west, but always wherever they travelled, whenever they rested, they were being watched by the guardian in a trench coat.

* * *

**A/N: Apologies for the short chapter, but hopefully it won't be too shitty eh? If you have any suggestions for how I can improve my writing or any ideas you'd like to share please don't hesitate to hit me up. I always appreciate feedback. **


	14. Noah's Ark

The feeling never left him. That sensation that your every move was being watched, every action recorded and studied. Perry has known this feeling for the vast majority of his life. In the vault every single thing he did, from his grades, his hair, his opinions, who his friends were, everything… _everything_ was known to _everyone._ He had grown to accept it as part of life.

How wrong he was.

When Perry first left the vault it took time for the feeling of being watched to eventually vanish. Until then, he was always looking over his shoulder, carefully choosing every word he spoke. When he finally realized that he was actually free, he actually had privacy… the alleviation was majestic. Magical.

Now it returns like a stomach virus. The Stranger was watching him, he could feel it now. Any small movement in the distance or in the corner of his vision caused him to snap his gun at it. Usually it was nothing but a bush swaying in the wind, or a small hideous animal. But every time his brow would be covered in sweat. He had grown so used to his privacy and his sense of freedom. Wanting to be free was the reason he abandoned his friends and Washington. Now he felt as trapped as ever.

Even Fawkes who was not completely talented in recognising human emotions due to his time isolated in vault 87 could see Perry was on edge and close to falling off.

His privacy, his sense of being truly alone whenever he wished it was one of the few things Perry treasured above all else. Now it was taken from him… by that basterd in the trench coat.

Despite his hatred of having his privacy taken from him it also put Perry's loneliness into perspective. He hated being alone, but he treasured his privacy. He was tired of being isolated but he would kill to keep it that way. Was this journey an enormous waste of time? Did it take abandoning everything and everyone to realize the source of his isolation? A cost too high to pay for something so infuriatingly obvious…

His growing anxiety and self hatred for not noticing the obvious was making their journey more painful than it needed to be. But it would have been much worse for Perry if he didn't know where he was going, like before. He was on a path now which offered some comfort. A community that grew out of a vault, Perry had to wonder what the social experiment of this vault was. To his horror Perry knew the truth about the vault's purpose by visiting Vault-Tec headquarters and numerous vaults around Washington.

They were never meant to save mankind. Not to shelter or preserve, but to test. Every vault was given a flaw or a set of rules and the results of these tests would be studied by… that part Perry wasn't sure. By Vault-Tec perhaps? What would they gain from the results though, they were a business. There was something sinister woven into the words of the ancient reports. Like the vault dwellers weren't human, just… subjects.

This was the idealized America? A public image of smiling faces and reassurances of a grand life… but behind those smiles was a soulless, selfish entity that cared not for the people it was appointed to protect.

_What happened to us? Or maybe… we were always like this. _

In the coldest depths of Perry's heart, the side of him that killed tortured and maimed, gladness grew. These… _monsters_ deserved to have the world burn around them. To have the comfort and security they had taken for granted and have it poisoned, mutilated and be almost completely killed before their eyes. Perry has killed monsters in his life, not mutants or Deathclaws, but true monsters; people. But even these were as nothing compared to the mythical entities of evil that populated the world long ago.

Yes, people today kill, rape and enslave but they could never do it on such an enormous scale like those before. A global power of corruption that managed to not only destroy the world but view the entire human race as nothing more than_ things_ to use, and once their usefulness was exhausted… cast aside.

Despite the sickening topic that Perry contemplated, it was still a welcome distraction from the anxiety he was feeling about The Stranger and this approaching vault.

* * *

In time, after exactly three days travelling along the cracked road a metal wall grew out of the distance. Perry wasn't sure how the dwellers would react to Fawkes, but if they threatened to kill him Perry would do anything to protect his friend. Even if it means slaughtering the only community he ever finds on his journey.

Coming to a stop in front of the sheltering metal the companions examined their surroundings. To their surprise, there was no sniper guarding the wall nor any guards or manned-protection of any kind. Moving closer to the wall Perry noticed a flap he didn't recognise. It was too small for the average human and what sense would it make for them to create a door not used by humans?

Perry reached out his hand to push on the flap but immediately knew he made a mistake. The unforgettable click, cocks and rustles of rifles being loaded and aimed at him froze his hand in place. He didn't dare move an inch or turn his head.

For a few seconds there was silence and then a voice shouted out from behind them "Human! You will fall to your knees and not move. Do you understand?"

Without any view of his ambushers Perry would have no chance to attack. "I understand" He shouted towards the wall. He fell to his knees and placed his hands on his head. The sound of swift feet approached from behind and in a flash a sack was placed over Perry's head. He was pulled to his feet.

Perry could hear Fawkes speaking to the ambushers. "What are you doing?"

"Silence giant. We have no quarrel with you, only the human you travel with."

"I will not allow you to kill him." Fawkes began to growl and there was a nervous silence from the ambushers.

"We do not plan to kill him until he has spoken to the Overseer. You… may accompany him."

Perry was turned around and pushed forward. He could never see where he was going or what was happening, all he knew was he was pushed down a tunnel which the ambushers must have used. After some walking he could feel the sun warming his head and knew he was above ground again. The sound of working and the gasps told him he was in the community now of… people?

Were they human though? They had called him a human almost as if that was different. And what quarrel were they talking about? They left Fawkes alone but captured Perry, were they ghouls… no they couldn't be. They didn't have the recognisable voice. Definitely not mutants either. Guess he'll have to wait and see.

Through the gasps and the sounds of the community he could hear the unmistakable mooing of Brahmin, but as he was being pushed blindly, his ambusher suddenly veered to the left.

"Careful human! You almost walked into Humphrey!" The ground beneath Perry's feet shook and in front of him roared a creature that must be gigantic. The sound it made was alien to Perry; he had never heard anything like it. _What kind of place is this?_

Deeper into the community they walked, and it was almost as if every step was met with a new sound. Growls, calls, squawks, roars, barks; the symphony of alien noises was deafening.

At long last he was pushed into shade and was suddenly turned and forcibly placed in a chair. His hands were tied behind him and then silence. His sack still obscured his vision but he tried his best to see through the small spaces between stitches. There were at least two figures standing in front of him and a stream of light was flooding through what must be the door of a tent.

At long last the tent flap flew open and a figure strolled in. He said nothing and must have been examining Perry.

"Show the Human to me." Immediately the sack was pulled from Perry's head. He squinted in the faint light until his vision finally cleared.

In front of him stood three perfectly normal looking people in vault jumpsuits.

Not ghouls? Not mutants? Just normal humans?

Perry could see the middle figure had the metallic signature shoulder guard of Overseer and was in fact a woman. Beside her stood two men who Perry suddenly noticed had branches attached to their vault suits.

"You're… you're human?"

The Overseer quickly raised her arm up and backhanded Perry's face. "Never call us that, Human! We will not be so easily insulted by being associated with the likes of you!"

His cheek still stinging from the blow, Perry looked up at the woman. "Well then… heh, what do I call you?"

"You will refer to us as The Keepers. Consider yourself fortunate, as you're the first human to hear our name spoken." Her words were harshly spoken and filled with such disgust that it astounded Perry he wasn't shot already.

"Well, ain't I lucky…? Where am I?"

"You and your companion are in the community of Noah, but we will not answer any more of your questions until we can determine if you are a threat to our citizens." The Overseer snapped her fingers and another jumpsuit wearing stranger walked into the tent carrying Perry's satchel. They handed it to the Overseer and then bowed out. The Overseer opened his satchel and began to rummage through his belongings.

She would pick up ammunition and casually toss it aside. If she found a piece of fruit or vegetable that Perry scavenged she would nod and carefully place it back inside. Perry had to sit and watch as she did this and had no idea what she was looking for. Eventually she found something and froze. Slowly bringing her hand up, she had Sally's toy horse in her grip.

The others in the tent stared in fascination as the Overseer turned the toy in her hand examining everything about it. Suddenly she pushed the toy in Perry's face and shouted "What is this?"

"What? It's a toy what do you think it is?"

"No, no," she said. "What _is this_, what do you call it?"

"It's a horse obviously, why do you care?" The Overseer didn't move, like stating the obvious was not what she was expecting. Her eyes searched Perry's and it seemed as if a life time of prejudice and hatred was looking for something, anything to grab hold of.

Perry stared right back. Neither broke contact. Eventually, she retracted her hand and stood over Perry. "Untie him…" she muttered begrudgingly.

The guards rushed behind Perry and untied the ropes on his hand; Perry gripped his sore wrists and slowly rose to his feet. He stood face to face with the Overseer and studied her features. She was in her mid-thirties and had a very poor complexion. Her face and jumpsuit were extremely dirty. If it wasn't for the jumpsuits Perry would have thought they looked like nothing more than filthy scavengers.

"You must understand Brother, we are always suspicious of outsiders. We must protect our Lords at all cost."

Perry raised an eyebrow. "Brother? You're not going to call me a human now?"

The Overseer shook her head. "Your clear homage and respect for our Lords has shown you to be a Brother. Please," She stood aside and motioned Perry to the door. Cautiously Perry walked past her; he pulled the tent flap aside and stood in awe of what was before him.

Enormous creatures walked among the houses, small creatures swiftly ran in tight groups. Birds, dogs, pigs, cows that to Perry's utter shock only had one head. Every creature of every possible kind attended to their own business in front of him.

"Behold Brother!" The Overseer exited the tent and stood next to Perry. "Welcome to Noah!"

* * *

**A/N: I felt kind of guilty about my last chapter, especially considering at least one of my readers was being slowly killed due to suspense. So I'll try my best to update more often. I had the idea of Noah for some time and was surprised there wasn't already anything like it in the Fallout universe. Stay tuned for more.**

**As always, criticisms and reviews are appreciated. **


	15. Azrael: The Talking Death

The rabbit dashed from shelter to shelter, the walls were made out of a reflective, cold substance seemingly mashed into each other yet did not fall. All the others minded their own businesses; some ate from the food place and other from the water hole. Every now and then one of the larger hunters would pounce on her kind and consume. This was common and largely ignored except by those stranger ones. They always seemed so shocked at death, so… sad.

The rabbit poked her head out and looked around. Up towards one of the flowing shelters where the strange ones dwelled, the entrance opened and a strange one she didn't recognise walked out. It stood and seemed shocked by Home as one of the most familiar strange ones walked out and extended her upper legs. The rabbit knew these creatures were safe and so hopped towards them.

Still in awe of what lay before him, Perry's heart seemed to clench in his chest. Never in his life would he have ever dreamed a place such as this could exist. So many animals, so much _life _in a world he thought dead. It was too much. He dropped his gaze to the ground.

A small, fluffy creature with large ears hopped towards him. It then stood on its hind legs and looked up at him, examining him. Perry knelt down and very slowly stretched out his hand towards it. The creature leaned forward and sniffed his finger. After a few seconds to gain its trust, Perry then scratched the creature's ears to the clear pleasure of his fluffy new friend.

All this time the Overseer watched with a sincere smile. _Yes, he is clearly our Brother._

Perry flattened his palm and waited. The creature then slowly climbed onto his palm and steadied itself as he brought his hand back up. Cupping the creature with both hands Perry turned back to the Overseer.

"This place… how have…?"

The Overseer's soft smile surprised Perry compared to her harsh treatment not moments ago. "How have we survived?" Perry nodded. "We were not always like this. We once lived in a Burrow with our Lords, who were then only pets. We were tasked with their survival and we have succeeded for hundreds of years."

The Overseer looked out over the vast settlement of shelters and shifting scenery. "It has not been easy. We would rather die ourselves than let one of our Lords perish, but if we all died out then none would be left to care for them."

"You call them Lords… you worship these animals?"

The Overseer's eyes snapped up at Perry; harsh but understanding. "You are still new to Noah and so I will tolerate your ignorance but _only_ for a short time. These are not animals; they are our superiors in every possible way. Our only existence is to serve them and when needed, die for them."

Trying to prevent another backlash Perry lowered his head and muttered, "I apologise. I did not mean to insult you. Please, can you teach me of Noah and your Lords?"

The Overseers eyes softened. She turned around and motioned for Perry to follow her. "Come."

Perry followed suit with the small creature still in his hands. He noticed it was sleeping so he tried his best not to bump it around as he walked.

Shouting back over the noise of wildlife the Overseer said, "You are lucky we found your tribute Brother. Many humans have come this way and their cruelty to our Lords has been appropriately punished."

Dodging animals half his size Perry shouted, "What cruelty?"

"A number of them have tried to enter Noah with a Lord carrying their possessions. I believe humans call them Brahmin, horribly disfigured remnants of the humble Cow but still a Lord all the same." The Overseer stopped before a long metal shelter and waited for Perry to make his way there.

His moving stirred the small creature in Perry's hands. It immediately jumped out to Perry's disappointment. It barely travelled two metres before a Dog landed on it and tore its small body apart. Horrified, Perry could only watch. The Overseer simply turned away.

"You punish people who use Brahmin as carriers but you let a Dog tear a defenceless creature apart?"

"It is in that creature's nature," she said bluntly. "We can not punish it by doing what nature commands it to."

"And humans?"

"Humans have a choice. We chose to take care of these Lords and those humans chose to abuse them."

Perry turned away and examined the metal tent. "Where are we now?"

"We are at what happens when a human abuses our Lords." She slowly opened the metal door and stepped inside. Following after her Perry was met with the most horrifying thing he had seen since he left Washington.

All along the walls were rows of cages, blood stained the floor, bones littered the dirt. But even worse there were people inside some of these cages; mostly men who looked well-travelled but women as well. They huddled in corners and stared at the newcomers with a look Perry wished he never had to see again.

That chill… that sense of death and pain Perry had once grown so used to.

"What is this…?" He muttered.

"These are the Abusers. Now they await their punishment."

Perry's hands clenched into fists. "Which is…?"

"To be treated like those they abuse. Come, we are about to reach what I wanted to show you."

The Overseer began to walk but Perry stood still. He could not believe what was happening. His weapons… his guns were taken from him. _Lucky for them…_

Not hearing his echoing footsteps the Overseer stopped and looked back. "What hinders you?"

Perry continued to stare at the prisoners. The pain… the death.

"Why…? Why do they deserve this?" Perry began to shout. "No one deserves this! How could you treat a living being like this?" The Overseer stared blankly back at him. She didn't understand his anger.

"Because… they deserve it. They abuse our Lords; they are not Beings but monsters."

"They are _people_! How can you tell me an animal's life is worth more than these ones here? A person can _think_, a person can _feel_ and a person can talk. A life capable of so much is worth preserving but you're treating them worse than they," Perry motioned to the starving prisoners. "Treat your Lords!"

Silence filled the prison. The Overseer should have expected this at some point. This outsider would be the first Keeper not born inside Noah. He will need to be taught. The Overseer slowly approached Perry.

"Very well, you say these human's life are worth something? Worth preserving above a Lord? Then consider our Lords move in packs and behave just like humans. They need to eat, sleep, breathe and reproduce. But they accept their inherent nature; they do not shy away from it and so are better for it."

"They accept it because they can not know anything more."

"Wrong! That rabbit didn't know you but could tell that you were safe. It learnt. It could analysis; how is that not different from a human? What makes a humans ability to do this more unique?"

Perry said nothing.

"You say a Lord can't feel, but I have seen with my own eyes that the Elephants mourn their dead. They stroke the bones of their ancestors with a lose that is even lacking in ancient human culture. How can you say that is not a feeling?"

Again, Perry said nothing.

"Finally, you said a Lord can not talk." The Overseer gave a knowing smile. "The punishment awaiting these abusers is to preserve our greatest secret, our proof that our Lords are the superior beings." She turned and continued on her previous path with a superior stance. "Come with me."

Perry looked to the prisoners but curiosity filled him. He followed after the Overseer. The further they went into the darkness of the tent a sound started to reach Perry's ears. The sound of crunching, snapping and consuming. He knew it from somewhere, but his journey and his discovery was tiring his memory.

Eventually The Overseer stopped before pitch darkness. Perry stood next to her and tried to peer into the distance. The noise was still there but coupled with it was the unmistakable stench of death. The Overseer stretched out her arms in reverence and called "My Lord! I request a moment of your time to reveal yourself to our new Brother."

The noise stopped. The silence, the darkness, the uncertainty. It was all so familiar; all the characteristics of something Perry has fought before.

Something in the darkness was moving towards them, but its footsteps were so silent as to be more terrifying than the ground shaking. Something gleamed in the darkness, lines of dagger sharp claws, skin as dark as night. Every fibre in Perry's being told him to grab a gun or get the hell out of there. But his feet were frozen in place. The Overseer was so confident where she stood.

A pair of eyes pierced the darkness and a lizard like head revealed itself. Death made itself known.

_A Deathclaw… these lunatics are keeping a DEATHCLAW?_

The Overseer quickly fell to one knee and bowed her head. The Deathclaw didn't even notice, it simply kept its gaze on Perry. Slowly it approached him; its head was mere inches from Perry's face. Why wasn't it attacking? It seemed to be studying him. Looking him up and down. It retracted its head and stood above them in a stance that didn't look natural for it. Like watching a dog imitating a person. What happened next completed Perry's comparison.

"WHO…IS…THIS…INGRID?" The Deathclaw spoke. Its voice boomed over the silence.

"My Lord Azrael, this new comer has shown an understanding and worship of our Lords. We wish to absolve him into the Keepers."

Perry's eyes widened when he heard the Deathclaw speak. _They can talk? Why didn't any of the Deathclaws in Washington talk? What the hell is going on?_

The Deathclaw looked from the Overseer to Perry and back again. "HOW?"

The Overseer reached into her suits pockets and pulled out Sally's toy horse and held it up like an offering. The Deathclaw slowly reached out and with the kind of care used by a master craftsman, plucked the toy gently from Ingrid's hands using the tips of its claws. It held up the simple toy before its eyes, studying it. The image of a Deathclaw holding up a child's toy would have been comical if Perry wasn't in a state of shock.

_God I hate surprises._

The Deathclaw finished its study and surprisingly gave the toy to Perry.

"WHERE… ARE YOU… FROM?" It asked. With every pause it took a deep, painful breathe. It's 'lips' hardly moved but its jaws would always widen, unleashing the decomposing stench of its breath. His lungs were screaming to splutter and cough but Perry used every ounce of his self control to hold it in.

"I…I'm from Washington D.C." He answered with some difficulty.

The creature hummed in understanding. It slowly turned to The Overseer and said "KEEP…HIM." It then turned towards the darkness and silently disappeared. Ingrid, as he now knew her, rose from her knees with a wide smile on her face. She placed her hands on Perry's shoulder and steered him the way they came from. As they left, the sound of snapping and feasting continued once more.

When the two finally left the prisoner and Deathclaw tent Perry fulfilled the wishes of his lungs and coughed violently. The Overseer just watched with that same smile. When Perry was finished he wiped his lips of the phlegm and looked at Ingrid.

"Now you see?" She said. "An animal that has the intelligence of a human and the ability to speak as a human. This is our greatest treasure, proof that animals are superior even in the realms humans once thought they dominated alone."

Perry knew she had a point, after seeing that Deathclaw, he wondered what was it that made humans so special compared to animals. "You know, I always thought that what made humans special was our ability to not just live, but _create_." He looked up at the colourless sky. "But now I see that maybe that's our weakness, not our strength. After all, our greatest creations were always used to destroy." He looked again at Ingrid. "You said you want to absolve me into the Keepers. Why?"

She looked out across the sanctuary and its shifting landscape. "We are dwindling. Eventually we will die out…"

"Unless you bring in outsiders." Perry finished for her.

She nodded. "Yes, but every human who has travelled to us has been an abuser, carrying their burdens on what you call a Brahmin. None of us would ever wish to mate with an abuser. You stranger, are a gift." Her voice was so solemn now. "You not only carry your own burdens but you keep an item of worship to one of our Lords. In these times, we need an outsider more than ever. And you would be as welcome as one of our own Brothers."

Perry looked down at the toy horse in his hands. A gift from Sally. _Sally if I ever see you again I'm buying you a hundred of these. You just saved my life. _

With all that was going on Perry realized he had forgotten about Fawkes. "Overseer, can I ask what happened to my companion?"

"The smaller Lords were frightened of your unusual friend, so we are keeping him with some of our larger Lords. But now Brother I must ask, do you have a name?"

Perry nodded. "Yes, my name is Peregrine but you can just call me Perry." The Overseer smiled.

'Very well, Perry. So now I ask of you, will you join us in our sanctuary? Will you protect our secrets and save us from dwindling into oblivion?"

For the first time Perry noticed the number on The Overseers vault suit; 62. These people were preserved from the old world and somehow managed to make a living in this Wasteland. But more importantly, they made a purpose for themselves. They weren't selfish, they weren't deluded and they were protecting maybe the last bastion of animal life on Earth. An ark.

These people were doing good in a world so full of bad. They needed help and it was his duty to aid them. But maybe now after all his wonderings he finally found a place where he can once again wear the suit he knew all his life and just exist. Here, he had a purpose; here he could have a home.

He looked up at The Overseer and said "Yes."

Standing on the metal tent above them a man in a trench coat watched and overheard everything below him.

_Kid didn't listen to me. He got suckered in. Boss said not to intervene unless I had to, this suits the bill. Perry baby, enjoy your time here while it lasts, because it ain't gonna last long._

**A/N: I'd like to thank the reader who suggested a talking Deathclaw to me as that fit really well with my idea of Noah and their beliefs. **

**I'll be exploring the history of Noah in future chapters so stay tuned to find out more. I hope you had a great Christmas and a happy new year and I'd like to say I appreciate you all reading my story as your compliments and support are the reason I've been writing for 15 chapters. Thankyou and have a great new year!**


	16. The Lonesome Road

**A/N: Firstly I'd like to apologise for the delayed update when I did say I would try and write more often. If you've been keeping up with the news you've probably heard that Queensland, Australia has been flooded pretty badly. This happens to be where I live hence the delay. Also my third year of university has been my busiest so far, I've been trying to focus more on that. Priorities, it sucks eh? If anyone has been agitated I apologise.**

* * *

Perry zipped up his new vault 62 jumpsuit and relished in the familiar feel. The smooth material brought back feelings of security and safety he hasn't felt since his childhood. Granted the suit was dirty and smelt of animal faeces but for Perry nostalgia was the greatest odour eater. Smiling to himself, Perry stepped out of his tent and into the sunlight. Today he was meant to be meeting with the Keeper's Loremaster in order to learn of Noah's history, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to these people since they left the vault.

None of the Keepers besides Ingrid had yet spoken to Perry. It wasn't that they despised him, they were simply nervous. Perry was the first outsider to be allowed to wonder the town freely, so he had been told. It was only natural they would be unsure about him. Still, he only wished they'd stop staring at him everywhere he went. Whether they were feeding animals, milking them or helping them give birth, they would look up at him like _he_ was the strangest one there.

_It's amazing these people seem to have developed a kind of loathing for their own species, _he thought to himself.

As Perry walked through the crowds of wildlife he couldn't help but wonder where The Keepers got the food to feed so many animals. Sure the carnivores would be fine but what about the herbivores, or indeed the Keepers themselves? If they wouldn't so much as call a Lord an animal there was no way they were going to eat them. Which only meant they must grow their own food, but where?

Out of nowhere a Keeper carrying buckets of water in both hands turned a corner and collided with Perry. The impact splashed the water over both of them, despite the freezing cold Perry was glad to have his clothes washed even partially.

"Oh! Sorry about that," He said to the Keeper. The man just looked up at him with a blank face, like he didn't even register the collision. With what little water remained in his buckets he walked off without a word. Perry watched him go and for the first time realized how young he was. In fact, every single Keeper Perry had seen couldn't have been older than 35. What happened to all the older citizens?

The list of questions Perry had for this Loremaster was growing rapidly.

After some searching Perry finally found the tent he was looking for. The scrap metal door had a drawing of a large wooden boat on it, no doubt a homage to the towns namesake. He lightly knocked on the door. Almost immediately a young man with reddish hair opened the door.

"Hello, I'm Perry. The Overseer…" Before he could finish the young man interrupted.

"Yes, yes, _I know._ You don't take up the position of Loremaster without knowing when something like this happens now do you? I swear, you outsiders know as much as you need to survive and nothing else." The Loremaster turned around and walked back into his tent saying to himself, "Eat, sleep, piss, shit, breathe. Congratulations! You passed!"

_And I thought the other Keepers were hostile…_

Perry followed in after him and was impressed by what he saw. Inside the tent were walls completely covered with drawings, paintings and photos of animals. Every type of animal Perry could ever think of and some he had never even seen or heard of before. In the centre of the room stood an old vault-tec projector like the type he had in his old classroom. A large screen was hung on the opposing wall and in the darkest corner was the smallest and most pathetic writing desk Perry had ever seen.

A number of the pictures drew his attention; among the walls of photos were drawings of animals with surprisingly human expressions. They were elegantly drawn and looked as old as the posters that Perry would often see in the subways back in Washington. As the Loremaster rummaged through his miniscule desk, Perry approached and studied one of the posters. It was a beautiful drawing of a lush, green expanse. Crowded with animals all gazing up at what appeared to be a lion looking out over them. The title _The Lion King_ embellished the top in clear golden letters.

"Should I go ahead and assume you can't read?" The Loremaster asked with thick contempt.

"I _can_ read. I also know some advanced biology. Like exactly where I need to squeeze a person's neck to suffocate them."

The Loremaster smirked. "You stand up for yourself. Good to see the Overseer didn't let in some wimp who would only weaken our already small gene pool."

Perry turned and faced the Loremaster. "What do genes have to do with anything?"

"And here I was beginning to think you could be smart." The young man folded his arms and sighed. "The Overseer has explained why she wants you to stay here right?"

"She said you were dwindling and she needed to start bringing people in."

"That's right. You're the first in our history to come from the outside. So what do you think that says about our gene pool?"

"Well obviously that it would be very limited and you're at risk of genetic deformities."

"Indeed, we've had too many children who barely make it past two weeks outside the womb. It makes good food for our meat eating Lords but if we don't fix this eventually we'll die out."

Perry had to process what this man said for a moment. "Good… food? You fed your children to the animals?"

The man's eye slightly twitched. "Yes… we all serve the Lords in our own way… even in death. It is a great honour for us. There is no greater privilege than to be become one with our Lords."

"That's sick!" Perry burst out in disgust.

The Loremaster shrugged. "Better we use our empty bodies to sustain our Lords than let them rot pointlessly in the dirt. But let's get back to the point here."

Despite the logic that Perry could see in this man's words, his stomach was still nauseous at the thought of it. "We need outsiders to mix up our genetic pool. You're the only one the Overseer has let in and perhaps ever will. So what do you think that means?"

Still slightly sick from before it took a few seconds for Perry to realize what he was implying.

"Wait… what? I thought she was just going to use me to find other outsiders. Not…_mate_ with you all."

"It's either that or the death of our way of life. And the death of our Lords."

"But… your people look at me like I'm some bizarre creature. They wouldn't do that with me."

"Some of them would, they were probably just sizing you up as a potential mate. Don't know what they could see in you but then I don't claim to know the mind of every Keeper. I only know our history and our stories." The Loremaster leaned forward, "And if you want even one mate you'll need to know them to."

Despite every town he visited in the Capitol Wasteland, Perry thought this group was undoubtedly the strangest. "Alright, I guess hearing a few stories will make up for your leader not murdering me."

The Loremaster walked towards his desk and withdrew the chair. He placed it directly in front of the screen and pointed at it, clearly ordering him to sit; Perry complied. He would continue to sit in that chair for the rest of the day and night. The Loremaster played century's old films of talking animals overcoming disaster or defeating some great villain. For the most part, these villains were humans but if he ever asked why this was or said anything at all the Loremaster would slap him on the back of the head to silence him.

Perry just kept his mouth shut and watched. Once the sun finally rose over the horizon once again, Perry was on the verge of passing out. It has been so long since he got a good nights rest he wondered if he could just… rest… his eyes… for a moment…

No such luck. The familiar slap brought him crashing back to consciousness as the ending finally arrived and the credits for long dead artists and writers scrolled up the screen.

"That's it; I sure hope you remembered all that."

Perry looked up at the young man but could barely see him. His vision was fuzzy, his balance was gone and he wondered if he tried to stand up would he fall over dead. "Could I just sleep here…" He managed to blurt out.

The Loremaster wasn't oblivious to Perry's exhaustion. But if this outsider was ever to understand their way of life he would have to know what they knew as soon as possible. But as much as he hated to admit it, he knew this outsider was vital to their survival. Feigning annoyance he said, "Fine, I have to go see the Overseer anyway. I'll be back in a few hours but if I see drool on the desk I won't hesitate to get Fluffy in here to teach you some manners."

The Loremaster then turned and left the tent, but rather than ponder who or what Fluffy is, Perry fell forward off the chair, collapsed onto the ground and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

A week after Perry had his visit to the Loremaster he still felt no closer to these people or their way of life. They seemed to have no personality, all they did was mindlessly attend to the needs of the animals with no sense of self or desires for anything else. The Keepers had a purpose and a noble goal, the preservation of these endangered animals, but at the same time Perry couldn't help but wonder if this purpose had destroyed their humanity.

As he walked through the fields of animals and their attending Keepers, he would examine the faces of these caretakers and notice just how empty they looked. Like their minds weren't even there. They were human, no doubt about that, but maybe that's what destroyed them.

_They've been told their entire lives that humans are evil, disgusting and should look after the wellbeing of animals. But being human themselves… that kind of self-loathing must be unbearable. _

Perry's only comfort during his time staying in Noah was Fawkes. Fawkes had a way with some of the larger animals so the Keepers asked if he could aid them. He accepted of course, Fawkes had spent decades reading about these creatures so this was his chance to study them in person. Perry once joked that maybe Fawkes should write a book himself, the next day Perry heard that the Loremaster was mysteriously missing some pencils and blank books.

Late at night as Perry tried to fall asleep in his personal tent, he thought about what was happening back in Washington. Was Sarah okay? Had Moira blown herself up yet? Had Elder Lyons resigned at last? And the Stranger, Perry hadn't seen him since that billboard. The Stranger made himself clear, Perry wasn't supposed to stay here. So naturally that made him stick around longer than he would have done otherwise. He didn't feel at home in Noah, but he felt that by staying he could defy this puppeteer. Perry was his own man; he wasn't going to dance just because this trench coat wearing trickster told him to.

Perry finally closed his eyes. He envisioned Megaton and what it might look like some day, his ears started to ring, which child from Little Lamplight would turn Big Town around, the ringing grew louder, what would Harold….

_What is that bloody ringing?_

The sound was filling his head; it blocked out every other noise and made Perry grind his teeth in annoyance.

_Where is that coming from…_

Perry opened his eyes. The tent immediately flew open as The Overseer entered his tent. The ringing stopped.

"Perry! We need your help right now!" Ingrid yelled.

He shot up out of bed. "What happened?"

"It's the Burrow, something's happening down there. We sent several of our Keepers to investigate but only one came back."

The Burrow, as Perry learnt a few days ago, is the Vault that The Keepers ancestors lived in during the Great War.

"Did he say what happened?"

"Yes but I barely believe it." Ingrid shook her head. "He said something about a ghost who seemed to appear and disappear at will. The ghost let him survive and told him to 'bring back the outsider and his brute friend'."

Perry's heart felt like it had been dipped in ice water.

* * *

Fawkes and Perry stood before the enormous metal doorframe into Vault 62. The frame was much larger than any he saw before and built directly into the side of the hill. No doubt this was to accommodate for the large animals so they could go in and out of the Vault.

"Do we know what awaits us, my friend?" Fawkes asked.

"A bit. The Overseer told me that they use machines inside the vault to produce food. They've been doing this to supply themselves and the animals ever since the war. There was some sort of conflict and they decided to live outside ever since." Perry decided not to mention that any Keepers who would have been inside were all reported missing.

"I wonder how many times I've walked into darkness for you," Fawkes said in what must have been his attempt at a joke.

"More than I'd like, believe me." Perry loaded Blackhawk and checked his ammo pouch. He made sure to put on his mercenary armour again as well as bringing all of the artillery they arrived at Noah with. With a nod, they entered the Vault.

The lights and machinery inside the vault was still functional, but for whatever reason they smelt and looked filthier than anything Perry had experienced. Covering his mouth they pressed on. Unlike all the vaults that Perry had visited in his short life this vault was extremely wide, lacking the claustrophobic corridors he was used to. They turned a wide corner and found their first body. A young woman lay against the wall, bloody sprayed across the wall behind her.

Perry knelt down and slowly lifted her chin. A bullet wound was in the middle of her forehead. He examined the wound and knew immediately what caused it.

_.44 Magnum. Point blank range. _

"Is it a warning?" Fawkes asked.

"No," Perry answered coldly. "A reminder." Perry looked up at the wall and noticed the signs pointing to different areas of the vault. There were the typical rooms; residential, reactor, but one drew his gaze.

Perry stood up, and examined the signs more closely. He barely saw it before but now it was clear. He lifted his hand up and tapped on the sign that read _Animal Studies_. "This is where He wants us to go."

"How do you know?"

In response Perry brightened his PipBoy light and flashed it on the sign. The green light illuminated an invisible 'X' that had been drawn on the sign. At the back of his mind Perry thought it'd be insane to follow. In all likelihood he was walking into some sort of trap. But something pushed him on; something told him he had to do this. It was the drive to know; he was sick of being in the dark and wanted to hear what this Stranger was doing.

_Why save me so many times? Why bring me out here to begin with? _

He was going to get his answers no matter what.

The companions continued on into the vault, following the signs that pointed them deeper and deeper into the ancient shelter. Eventually, they faced a large metallic door with no known method of opening it.

_What now, genius? _

Perry looked around the wide corridor and noticed a window to the side. Through it he saw a room with a single operating computer sitting on a desk. He motioned for Fawkes to follow and approached the glass. With a nod from Perry, Fawkes smashed his enormous fists into the window, instantly shattering it. Smiling, Perry climbed into the room. He walked towards the computer while putting Blackhawk away and started up the machine.

Typing in some basic commands he tried to find out what exactly this computer was connected to and if it could open the door. To his annoyance the computer was only a personal diary but one of the chapter titles drew his gaze.

_December 4__th__, 2072. Where Are the Animals Going?_

_Has it really been a year since I moved into this place? The time has gone by so quickly I wonder where it all went. Just like the animals. The ones under my care were examined by the science team; I tried to tell them my years as a veterinarian assured me nothing was wrong with them but they insisted that they were suffering that strange illness that's been going around and took them away. _

_What was the point of having vets like me brought in to take care of the animals if the science team has the last say about what happens to them? I should probably cut them some slack though, they're studying how to ensure their survival after all. I just wish they didn't bring in those damn animal rights activists. They don't really contribute anything to the vault as a whole, all they ever do is cuddle the smaller animals and say how much better animals are to humans. _

_I swear those idiots would make us worship animals if they could. _

As Perry finished the diary chapter he became aware of the ringing in his ears again. Ignoring it, he read the next entry.

_January 18__th__, 2076_

_We've been lied to. This was all a lie. It all started when that THING came out of the science facility. Some gigantic monster with huge claws. It spoke to us, told us about the horrible things the scientists were doing to the animals. It wants us to rise up, to do what we were meant to and save the animals. _

"Azrael." Perry muttered under his breathe.

_This is history. We're going to preserve these creatures and not let them be tested on. They're living beings; they feel pain just like we do. Just like those scientists are going to…_

Distracting him from the chapter was the sound of metal scratching against metal and the ground shaking slightly. He walked back to the window and saw Fawkes examining the now unblocked doorway.

"Well done my friend," Fawkes complimented. "The way is clear."

Perry looked back over his shoulder at the silent computer. Was it something he did? Shrugging it off, he climbed back out of the room and rejoined Fawkes as they continued their search. The corridors were different this far in. He knew that no one has been here for centuries. The metal was corroded and red. The air was foul and reminded Perry of the very vault he first met Fawkes.

"This place…" Fawkes muttered.

The ringing was getting louder with every step. They noticed an unmarked door to the side. Perry pushed the button beside it and it opened to a vast chamber filled with enormous vats. Fawkes and Perry looked at each other before stepping inside. As they walked among the metallic containers Perry tapped them with his armoured finger.

"There's something in these things."

"You're right about that, kiddo."

Perry whipped around and fired three rapid shots at the trench coat wearing figure behind him. The Stranger just smiled. Not a single bullet hit him.

"How have you been kid? Getting plenty of rest to move on to bigger and better things I hope?" He talked like Perry and he were old friends. Perry was having none of it.

"Why have you done this? What's going on?" He kept Blackhawk trained on the Stranger, even though he knew it was futile. Fawkes growled next to Perry, clearly as anxious about this as he was.

The Stranger smiled and stretched his arm out to his side. "This! This is what's happening. It's the old world, kid. Look at these babies!" The Stranger walked down the row of vats with Perry and Fawkes carefully watching him. He turned back to the companions, "Do you have any idea what all this is capable of? That little water cleaner your pappa made has nothing compared to what we were capable of back in the swinging days. Let me give you an example." The Stranger clicked his fingers and bars of bright light materialised around Perry and Fawkes. A panel of light appeared under their feet and the bars, Perry realised, were cages. He grabbed on to a bar of light and tried to break it but it was as hard as metal.

"What the hell is this?" Perry shouted.

"Hard-Light Cages, kid."

Perry heard a roar as Fawkes went mad inside his own light cage. He smashed his enormous fists into the light but they barely moved from his blows. "Ain't any use kid. These things have imprisoned tougher beasts than your little side kick here." The cages lifted off the ground, carrying Perry and Fawkes with them. "I tried to tell you kid. You're a part of something much bigger than you know but you thought you could live in this little freak show. A regular fish in a mutant pond. Doesn't work like that."

Fawke's cage flew up and hovered above the closest vat.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Perry shouted.

"Each vault was also part of something larger. The advancement of the human race. But we never advance without sacrifice. We never move on without leaving something behind." Perry's cage drifted up high enough that he could see over the vat. The metallic cover of the vat opened up to reveal a sickly green liquid inside. "We managed to make great strides in this vault. And we didn't even need to sacrifice people to do it. The animals this vault tested pushed the boundaries of what we were capable of. But then these soft-hearted hippies couldn't accept it. Then the war happened. The world froze in the nuclear fire. But now it's happening kid. We're taking it all back."

Perry was horrified. Fawkes was still furiously attempting to break his cage. Perry screamed, "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?"

The figure below him chuckled. "You? It was never about you. It was never about me. We're playing our parts. You were always going to come out this way, but by choosing your little 'escape' just meant less work for us. There is someone I want you to meet, and you're going to help him whether you choose to or not." The Stranger paused. "You chose not." He clicked his fingers.

The Light-Cage surrounding Fawkes disappeared. With a furious scream Fawkes fell into the vat. Perry could only watch in horror. The ringing in his ears was now so loud it felt like his head was about to split open. He clutched his head and yelled in pain, horror, and despair. He couldn't see. He couldn't think. There was only the sound of his failure and his pain. He fell to his knees and barely glimpsed the image of his only remaining friend disappearing into the liquid.

Perry was shaking from the pain, his hands still clutching his head perhaps to try and contain the noise. Bubbles appeared on the surface of the liquid. Was it Fawkes? Was he still alive?

A furious creature broke the surface of the liquid. It was Fawkes but he was thrashing about the surface. He was in pain. He was going mad. This was not Fawkes, this was the monster inside of him. Perry watched as the figure's skin bubbled and expanded, his hands grew and developed hideous spikes and always it roared in pain… and anger. Terrifying anger.

Over the roaring Perry could hear laughter. "Isn't it beautiful?" The Stranger yelled in gleeful triumph. "The pride of the old world! Now it's time to reclaim the new!" The monster that was once Fawkes slashed the walls of the vat, the containers disgusting contents spilled out over the floor. Perry watched above as the creature, now freed from the vat, furiously rushed around the room destroying everything in its path. It noticed the door and collided with the wall, tearing it apart. He broke into the large corridor, barely able to fit, and vanished around the corner. Perry could still hear the sound of its powerful steps shrink off into the distance… towards Noah.

"Fawkes! Stop! Damn you, stop this!"

"It's progress kid. You didn't want to move on, so now I need to remove any reason for you to stay."

"No! Fuck you! Fuck you and your fucking plans!"

"Language, kid." Perry's cage drifted back down and floated just above the surface of the spilt liquid. Why the liquid that was pouring around the Stranger's feet had no effect Perry couldn't fathom, nor did he care. He just wanted to stop all this; he wanted to silence the noise, he needed to do _something._

"There's nothing you can do, Perry my boy." He looked up at the smirking figure and realised he hated him. Furiously, unwaveringly despised this man with every ounce of his being. The Enclave, the super mutants, they were faceless unambiguous evils. The Stranger? This was a man who ruined his life and turned his best friend into a monster. There were no words that could describe how much he wanted to see this man die.

"Awww," The Stranger said mockingly. "You don't like me now eh? That's a pity; I was hoping we could be best friends and grab a beer at the bar." He reached into Perry's cage, his hands moving effortlessly through the Hard-Lights, and grabbed his throat. He pulled Perry up to the bars and leaned forward. "You listen to me kid, I can do more than ruin your life and turn your pet into the freak he always was. This country ain't as safe as it used to be. There are horrors I could send you to that would make hell into a vacation. But I won't because I want you to do something for me."

A bright light blinded Perry, he felt like he was being squeezed into a tiny hole and pushed back out the other end, all the whole the Stranger's hand was firmly holding his throat. As the light disappeared, he felt solid ground beneath his feet. His eyes adjusted and he realised he was standing out in the Wasteland in the middle of the night. The hand let go of his throat and he fell to the dirt coughing. The ringing intensified again and he was now screaming in pain in the dirt.

"How long can you endure that kid? I can make it stop. You just have to do as I say."

Perry surrendered.

"YES! STOP IT STOP IT!" The ringing stopped. Perry was lying on the ground taking deep, desperate breathes.

"That's more like it."

Somewhere in the distance Perry could hear the sound of screams. Were they his own? No they were the sound of women's, the cries of animals. He slowly got to his feet and searched the horizon. He saw the familiar sight of Noah's gate, but was lit behind with fire and the shadow of an enormous creature destroying everything around it. There was gunfire, but it was quickly silenced. There were the cries of animals that would never be heard again.

Perry slowly stumbled around and faced the Stranger. He wanted to hit this man, he wanted to hurt him. But he had nothing now. All he had was this Stranger's orders.

Choking, Perry managed to sputter out, "What… do you want me to do."

"Go West. You'll make it; I'll make sure of that. When you reach your goal, I'll let you know. Have a little faith, okay kid?" Perry responded with a dry, painful cough. "Check that little toy on your wrist; I'll see you soon kid." Perry brought his Pipboy up to his face and noticed a note had been added. He looked up at the Stranger but, at long last, he had left. Perry fell to his knees to give his legs a rest and slowly opened the note.

_The lonesome road is on and on,_  
_In every way and direction,_  
_Through dark and thick till it's gone,_  
_In each its confusion and section._  
_Beneath the fields of earthly way,_  
_Where the empathy of beat lies,_  
_When young becomes old yesterday,_  
_With clouds on remoteness skies._

_Where real is in its dream only,_  
_Forsaken to the dark and night,_  
_And every footstep walked lonely._  
_From hours of the gone bright,_  
_Our love has only there been,_  
_With sparks of wishes in the heart,_  
_In between cracks not yet seen,_  
_In our existence of another start._

_Times are calling through the field,_  
_With days to the front in need,_  
_Where stories from the old did yield,_  
_Beauty that boondocks gloried._  
_When days where in green awake,_  
_In breathing of young and bold,_  
_And the ground was not forsake,_  
_In our slip-up ways stronghold._

_The lonesome road is on and on,_  
_In every way and direction,_  
_Through dark and thick till it's gone,_  
_In each its confusion and section._  
_Though still there is life out there,_  
_Those give us a turn into gold,_  
_By dreams confronted everywhere,_  
_That never again become old._

Perry's arm fell at his side. He didn't have the strength to hold it up anymore. He fell forward face-first into the dirt and slipped into sleep.

The warmth of the sun woke Perry from his slumber. His neck was now burnt and he could hear noises in the distance. He pushed himself up from the ground and saw the smouldering ruins of Noah, the last haven of so many animals. With difficulty, he raised himself onto his feet and looked around. There was a sign that he never noticed before with an arrow pointing along the road. Official looking words were covered by white paint that spelt "The Lonesome Road".

This was his goal. He had nothing, no one, and so nothing left to loose. Nothing left to weigh him down. He took his first step along the Lonesome Road, never knowing he was not the only one.

* * *

**A/N: Well that was a massive chapter, I had originally thought to make this two but considering how long it's been since my last update I guess I felt I owed something like this to the readers. I apologise again for the long wait but I'm afraid I have more bad news. I'm going away to Europe for 3 weeks so I won't be able to update until I get back. I hope this chapter was worth the wait and can hold you over until the next one. As always reviews and criticisms appreciated. **

**Thanks for reading. **

**The poem is "The Lonesome Road" by Peter S. Quinn.**


	17. The Wanderer's Package

At a young age, children are incorrectly taught their bodies are in possession of five senses. Anyone can name them as they are the most prominent and obvious senses humans have.

Sight.

_It stretches forever, past forever. An endless, broken road that taunts his vision with images of an end. But it kept going, Perry would see the markers of his captor directing him along the Lonesome Road._

Hearing.

_The rustle of his feet, the swaying of ancient plants long dead. Radioactive wind howled into his ears and whatever blood remained in his body circled them, reminding him that he was still alive and walking the Lonesome Road._

Smell.

_Dirt filled his nostrils and death followed them. Empty towns smelt of lost dreams, rotten food smelt of his failure. The road smelt of his lone journey, along the Lonesome Road._

Taste.

_No water quenched his thirst, no food filled his stomach, his tongue and his nose filled with the same dirt and death. No words escaped his mouth, his voice was now forgotten. Perry walked in silence along the Lonesome Road._

Touch.

_Pain… pain… pain. His skin was screaming at him. The wind tore at his body and the radiation sickened it. Was he turning into a ghoul? He didn't know. His face felt different but more scarred than peeled. Why couldn't he silence his skin? How would it feel to simply drop over dead? Maybe it would feel the same as this Lonesome Road… a journey alone. _

What is often forgotten is the other senses human posses which we could not live without. Our sense of temperature, our sense of balance and, most important of all, our sense of time. Every other sense Perry possessed was screaming at him but time had slipped away. He would look back at his past and realise the memories were jumbled. He never purposefully flooded his dads sink when he was 5 did he? He didn't even know that was possible.

What about this journey? Could he remember where he even was at this time?

Perry thought back, he was walking along the road as he always was. A fruit basket appeared filled with food that he ravaged. A gift from his captor to keep him going. Then… what? A gigantic molerat the size of an elephant was rushing toward him. He couldn't move, any sense of self-preservation was gone. A bang was heard behind him and the monster collapsed. He weakly turned around and witnessed his captor casually walking away, his gun still smoking.

Protection. Sustenance. Guidance.

Was this his captor or his guardian angel? No… not guardian. Guardians protect their people from outside threats. This was a delivery and he was securing his cargos safety. Perry wondered what it would take to be free of this being. Could he escape?

Another memory appeared, he didn't know when it was. He was lying on the road with the sun burning his face and the road scorching his back. A shadow appeared above him.

"You can't walk out of your own story, kid." He felt himself be dragged to a small tent. His wounds healed, his exhaustion lifted. How and why he didn't know… or care.

He was walking again now. Was it the present? Must be, but it didn't feel any different than before… if there even was a 'before'. Is there even a world, is there even a 'him'? His senses screamed at him, but what was him? Where did the senses start and he begin? Perhaps he never began at all; he was a part of the world that tortured him either willingly or not.

Willingly or not….

Those words destroyed him once. They show he had no choice. Whatever plans he had were meaningless in the eyes of the world and the only choice he had… that anyone has… is willingly… or not.

Perry stopped. Feet obstructed his lowered vision. Looking up, the serious face of his captor greeted him. They stared at him for a bit, how long he didn't know. How long had it even been since he started this walk? Perry focused, his captor wanted something.

"You're there kid."

There? Where was there, where was here?

"You want to congratulate yourself then?"

Perry tried to speak. He pushed his vocal cords and wiggled his tongue. Nothing happened. He grasped his throat in panic, was something in there or had something gone missing?

"That's unfortunate. Seems you lost your voice. But then it's been almost a year since we last spoke back at Fertiliser Central. You've walked a long way and you can hold your thanks for me until after you finish your job."

Perry gave a confused look. Job?

The Stranger smiled and stepped to the side. Behind him lay a man facedown in the road with a pole piercing his body. A flag was strapped to the pole in what Perry assumed was triumph over this fallen man. With a confirming nod from the Stranger Perry limped to the body. He examined it and found to his shock the man was alive, if barely. Whatever happened must have done so less than an hour ago.

"Take care of him. Everything you've done, everything I've done has been for this swinger here. He's more important than either of us, and you're going to guide him."

Perry examined the pole's puncture and realised it was lucky enough to not pierce any of his internal organs. He looked up at the Stranger and realised he was long gone. In his place was a tent. Nodding, Perry slowly and carefully dragged the man into the tent. Inside was a trunk of medical equipment, drugs and a bed, most of which Perry would need to use on this man, whoever he was.

Things seemed focused now. He was exhausted and starving, but the very reason he was dragged along this journey was for this man. He had to focus, and his body responded. Perry went to work.

* * *

Two days passed as Perry nursed the man. He successfully removed the pole but found there was more that needed fixing. Several bones were broken, his nose included, and most of his chest and arms were heavily bruised. Whatever he was doing before Perry found him must have been ugly. He did everything he could and finally slept on the floor of the tent.

He woke up to the light of the sun piercing the tent door, weakly he got up and exited the tent for the first time since he entered. He looked out over the landscape. Hills and broken buildings scattered the wasteland, his tent stood alone on the wide road and must have looked extremely odd to any passerby. Where were they though? Was this place as empty and dead as it looked?

A large chunk of road was upheaved next to him, one of many along this cracked and broken road. He sat down on it. Sighing deeply he looked up at the sky. Blue? There was blue in the sky! Wherever he was must be cleaner than the East coast. The sun shone through the scattered clouds onto Perry, for the first time in so long the warmth comforted him rather than burnt him.

Perry's muscles relaxed. His breathing slowed. Closing his eyes he felt more at peace than he ever remembered feeling. It was in this silent Nirvana he heard groaning behind him. The creak of a bed being free of its burden. More groaning, and the sound of tent flaps slowly being pulled apart.

He didn't move. He kept his back on the one behind him and simply focused on his breathing. He would happily die now if it could be this peaceful. But whoever was behind him was studying him thoroughly. He could feel the gaze on his back as strongly as the light from the sun. There was a step… silence. Another. The man's breathing was irregular.

"Now what minister of fate would you be?" he spoke weakly, the bruises were still painful no doubt.

Perry slowly looked over his shoulder and smiled. He didn't know why, maybe because it was the first occasion in so long he had reason to smile. They looked at each other, Perry softly smiling and the stranger with confusion clear in his expression. He never noticed before but this man must have been in his early 30's. He was bent over, clutching his chest which was covered in bandages.

"Who are you?" he asked again. Perry opened his mouth but no words came. His smile vanished and he touched his throat. His captor was right, his voice was completely gone. Noticing this, the man raised an eyebrow.

"You can't talk? Well ain't that swell." He limped closer to Perry and studied him from the front. "Geez man, what the hell happened to you? You look like you're in worse shape than I am."

Perry looked down at his body and examined it for the first time. His mercenary armour had broken away in several places and some metal even looked like it fused with his skin. His pipboy was still working but was heavily scratched and had dust beneath the screen. He touched his face and felt all the cuts and scars that he must have gathered over his walk.

"You err… you have a name or something? Suppose you can't really tell me eh?"

Perry shook his head. He then pointed at the man and gave a quizzical look.

"Me? Name's Jesse… well not really, but I don't exactly go saying my real name."

Perry raised an eyebrow, or at least what would have been left of one. Jesse avoided Perry's look but would glance back awkwardly.

"Oh fine, fine. It's Jesus. Mother insisted I was to deliver some message to humanity like the big man did. Seems the only message I have is how to get the shit kicked out of me and be saved by some Silent Wanderer."

Jesse slowly and painfully sat down on the rock next to Perry. Groaning from the effort, he seemed to be doing his best to appear grateful. He noticed Perry's pipboy for the first time and pointed at it.

"That a pipboy? You're from a vault aren't you?"

Perry nodded. He used his finger to sketch out the number '101' on the rock they sat on.

"101 huh? Doesn't ring a bell, although I can't help but wonder exactly what you're doing outside your underground home."

Perry shrugged. He couldn't tell him even if he wanted to.

"But umm… not to appear ungrateful, I can't thank you enough don't get me wrong, but what exactly is your plan? Why do this?"

Perry didn't really know. He looked out over the horizon and glimpsed a figure in the distance. Jesse was watching Perry and so didn't notice the figure stretching out his hand and pointed west along the road. A small light hid the figure and when it cleared he was gone.

Perry looked back to his patient and pointed west along the road. Jesse noticeably gulped.

"W…west? You want us to go west, am I getting that right?"

Perry nodded. Jesse looked down at the ground and seemed to be thinking rapidly. His hand went up and touched the mark in his chest where the pole once pierced it. He looked back at Perry.

"Is there anyway I can convince you to go another way? _Any_ other way?"

Perry shook his head. Jesse sighed in response.

"Well… you saved my life; I suppose I owe you a guide. I just hope you can fight pal." He clenched his side and his face contorted in pain. He slowly stood up and started limping towards the tent. "I'm just… gonna rest a bit. Still stings badly. Thanks again, stranger."

Perry watched him disappear into the tent and wondered just exactly what he was all about. He was running from something and it seemed Perry's job was to bring him back. He had become a courier and Jesse was his package.

* * *

**A/N: Well I'm sure you guys can figure out who Jesse happens to be. Yes, this was my plan for this story for some time now, hopefully it won't be too lame that you guys can get some enjoyment from where I'm taking this. If you want to know what happens to Perry you'll just have to stay tuned. I'm enjoying writing this story and if you enjoy reading please let me know. Motivates me to write faster and maybe help me improve. **

**Thanks for reading, stay tuned. **


	18. The Confessions of Strangers

Jesse lay on his small bed and stared up at the ceiling of the tent. His injuries were sore but he's dealt with worse. He pushed the thought of the pain out of his mind and thought about the Silent Wanderer; something wasn't adding up. This guy who had no weapons, no food, no water and apparently no voice just finds him out in the middle of the Wastes? Then there was the question of why the Wanderer would help him in the first place. Jesse had picked up on some cues from his mangled saviour, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing or why.

Yet he was smart enough to perform surgery to save Jesse's life. He managed to walk from who-knows-where to here and still be able to go on. He was tough, no doubt about it. Jesse felt amazingly safe with his new friend, even though he just met him there was an aura that radiated from him, and not the 'you're never having children now' kind. Whatever it was, Jesse could see goodness in his eyes.

Groaning, Jesse leant up from his bed and sat on the edge, looking down at his feet. His mind flashed back to the previous week.

_Escape… he had to escape. His predator was not far behind now; he had to keep going further into the storm. The dust ravaged his eyes, it tore off his skin. He pushed against the wind even though he could barely see five feet away. A small piece of metal being blown by the wind appeared and struck him in the chest. He yelled in pain, enough to let the dust enter his mouth and throat. He coughed and spluttered but still walked on. Whatever awaited him could not be worse than what was following him. _

Jesse shuddered.

The Rancher. That damn Bighorn Rancher who had chased him for years. He must believe Jesse was dead now; he did the deed himself after all. But what if he knew? What if he ever ran into him again and put the Silent Wanderer at risk? They were heading west soon, the same direction the flickering images of the Old World flag was heading after he…

_Get a hold of yourself. You're safe now, that lunatic is long gone and won't bother you again. Just get the Wanderer where he wants to go and then start a new life. _

Jesse took a deep breathe. Thinking about what to do never seemed to help. Talking always did though…

Should he tell the Wanderer everything? It's not like he had to worry about him blathering about it to other people and put Jesse at risk again. But Jesse was frightened. Telling the Wanderer everything may make him regret ever saving Jesse. But he did owe the Wanderer everything; he just hoped the truth wasn't worth more than that.

* * *

Perry was not far away from the tent picking large vegetables he found in the ground. He didn't know what they were or even if they were edible, but with luck this 'Jesse' may have a better clue. He grabbed the leaves of a particularly stubborn vegetable that lay beneath the surface. He pulled but it didn't budge. Perry readied himself and yanked it with all his strength. It freed itself from the ground but Perry ended up falling backwards onto his back from the effort. He sighed from annoyance.

A shadow slowly materialised above him. He looked up and that familiar sinking feeling in his chest returned when he saw who it was.

"Been a while since you saw things growing in the ground, hasn't it kid?" The Stranger extended a hand down towards Perry. He looked at it and didn't know if he wanted to grab it or tear it off. He was so exhausted of this. After so long, could he really hang on to this hate? He just wanted it to end. Everything.

He reached up and accepted the Strangers hand.

Pulling him up Perry noticed the Stranger's expression was of neither superiority nor contempt. He looked like just another man… in a trench coat and hat. As soon as he was up Perry let go and picked up his vegetable. He began to walk off to the tent with his prize when the Stranger shouted out, "Do you want to know?"

Perry stopped.

"Do you want to know why you were chosen for this? I didn't just pick your name out of my hat, kid. You're something special. But you were never the first."

Perry turned around and stared at the Stranger with a quizzical look. The Stranger reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and lighter. He walked towards a large rock and sat down on it. Lighting his cigarette he took a deep drag and exhaled in a way that told Perry he was choosing carefully what words to say next.

"There have been others like you; Vault dwellers that just appear out of thin air and change the world. Both dangerous and inspiring. Exceedingly rare and more valuable than anything else in the world, especially in a world of scrap and forgotten history. It doesn't take much to forge such individuals, when the potential is there all they need is a goal."

The Stranger paused and looked out towards the horizon. "We've studied them. Learnt everything we could about them. Most importantly we learnt how to find such individuals, how to spot the diamond in a churning sea of mangled scrap. But it's been too long, America needs another."

He looked up again at Perry with a look he would never be able to understand. "At first we were hoping you would be that individual. But you were too far away from the action. In order to make a difference in this new world you needed to be in a place you simply weren't. We thought about bringing you there, but we realised that wouldn't work. Simply being there isn't enough; we needed someone who was a part of it."

Perry looked back in the direction of the tent and then back to the Stranger. The Stranger nodded. "We spotted him around the same time we spotted you. He was on the run, completely lacking purpose and focused only on his survival. And then there was you, on the hunt for a lost father and determined to finish his work. Both remarkably talented, but you had something he didn't; purpose."

Perry thought about that word. _Purpose._ The more he thought about it, the more furious he became. He threw his vegetable into the dirt and glared at the Stranger. The Stranger did nothing, only watched in fascination. Perry couldn't take it anymore. Despite the futility, he tried to scream a single word.

_Why._

The Stranger read his silent screams and smiled. "Why? For the future, Perry. You're going to give him what he never had; a purpose. What happens next is always difficult to determine. But a man like Jesse with a purpose could do great things, and ultimately change the face of the new world by helping a friend from the old."

Perry took deep breathes and tried to calm himself. He was getting sick of everything being out of his hands, yet still being expected to work for it. The Stranger took a deep drag from his cigarette and exhaled. "There is a city out west by the name of New Vegas. Something important is happening there and Jesse's skills could tip the balance of power. The Old World was flawed but in this New World it can lead us into the future. The leader of New Vegas, a man by the name of Mr. House follows our vision. Not knowingly, but once his dominance is absolute we will approach him. He will be the face of the future and we will guide him. So to do that, we need Jesse."

The Stranger stood up and dropped his cigarette, crushing it beneath his shoes. "Which of course, leads us back to you. It's taken years, but we're not far off now." The Stranger paused and stared into Perry's eyes. "Perry… I know you don't trust me, but if you have any wish to see humanity rebuild, like your father did, then please… you must guide him. Deliver the deliverer." The Stranger slowly tipped his hat, and then walked away. Perry didn't watch him go; he already knew it was pointless.

To his surprise, The Stranger stopped. He shouted over his shoulder, "By the way, your brute friend? He didn't just disappear into thin air you know. He's been following you, and we have no idea what he'll do when he finds you. Be safe… Perry."

Perry looked up but frowned when like so many times before The Stranger was gone just as he tried to find him. Then the words of what he just said sunk in. Fawkes… he was following Perry. He rapidly looked out over the horizon in every direction, some hills and crumbled buildings littered the landscape but he could see no giant. But the creature Fawkes became wouldn't need long to catch up. They had to go.

Perry knelt down and quickly gathered up the splattered remains of his vegetable. As he picked up each soft piece one by one a faint memory echoed in his mind. Broken pieces of a shattered whole. Bringing them back together but never being able to join them again. The words of his red haired friend filled his thoughts.

_Did you ever try to put a broken piece of glass back together? Even if the pieces fit, you can't make it whole again the way it was. But if you're clever, you can still use the pieces to make other useful things. Maybe even something wonderful, like a mosaic. _

_Well, the world broke just like glass. And everyone's trying to put it back together like it was, but it'll never come together the same way._

Perry paused in his gathering and started to think. The Stranger and the people he work for are trying to build the New World by using the old. But it can't be done. They failed the moment they begun this mission of theirs. If what The Stranger said about Jesse is true, that he can tip the balance of the New World then he was more important than Perry realized.

But if the future was to be built it mustn't be like this. The foundation must be one of moving on from the past. Perry was going to teach Jesse what it meant to let go. He was going to teach him the meaning of purpose… and the meaning of sacrifice.

* * *

Jesse paced around the small tent trying to walk off his sore chest and anxious mind. He didn't know when The Wanderer would be back and he wasn't sure how he'd begin when he was. As if on cue, the sound of sliding rocks warned Jesse that The Wanderer was back. He exited the tent and saw The Wanderer running down a small hill with a broken Xander root in his arms. He was about to wave when the look of urgency on The Wanderer's face halted him.

The Wanderer ran up to him and looked like he was being chased. Jesse urgently asked, "What's the matter? What's happening?"

The Wanderer just shook his head and pointed west along the road. Jesse nodded in understanding; they had to go. They rushed inside and gathered up all the medicine and remaining food they had left. Perry still wished he had his rucksack from Washington in moments like these but he couldn't even remember what happened to it. Filling their pockets with everything they could carry, the two companions exited the tent and began their journey west.

A new purpose for The Wanderer. An anxious return for The Courier.

For hours they walked in silence. Jesse would look to The Silent Wanderer and study the urgency in his eyes. He would look back over his shoulder every now and again but whenever Jesse looked he couldn't see a thing. When he wasn't looking back or staring determined in front, The Wanderer would be looking down at his pipboy.

Out of curiosity Jesse would look over and see an entire map of the area displayed on the screen. Every now and then a flash of text would appear and The Wanderer would type something. When the companions would stop for a rest and a drink, The Wanderer would tinker with the chassis of the device. Jesse had no idea what he was doing, but all he could think was: _I got to get me one of those._

That night they made camp along the road. Jesse took a sip from his water container and looked at The Wanderer, he had finished whatever he was doing to his pipboy and was now eating a piece of Xander root. Jesse had to say it was okay to eat before he would take a bite, he must have never seen one before.

Abruptly breaking the silence Jesse asked, "Just where are you from anyway? You may be from a vault but mercenary armour like that isn't standard attire in one of those prisons."

The Wanderer looked up from his meal and chuckled. He finished his piece of Xander Root then got on his knees in the dirt. Using his armoured finger he spelt out the words 'Washington D.C.' Jesse's eyes widened as the realization sunk in.

"But that's…. on the other side of the country." The Wanderer chuckled again. Jesse was starting to wonder if he was crazy. "You're something else to make that journey." The Wanderer stood up from the dirt and sat back on his rock. He then pointed at Jesse, no doubt asking the same question. Jesse shrugged, it was now or never.

Speaking slowly he started, "Listen… you saved my life, for whatever reason I don't know but I feel I owe you the whole story. So long as you travel with me you're in danger, I can't put it any clearer than that. But for you to understand, I have to start from the beginning. Just, please… don't hate me."

Perry's full attention was on Jesse as he took a deep breathe and begun his confession. "As a kid, I grew up in a raider gang. That there would be enough for me to understand why you'd try to kill me right now." Jesse looked up at The Wonderer but saw no move for a gun, no silent judging; just a scarred face of understanding and compassion. Jesse continued on.

"My mother was in the gang as well, one of the nicer ones. I never knew my father and I'm almost glad for it. My mother tried to convince the gang to not be so violent. She found books speaking of a guy who lived a long time ago named Jesus. He was apparently the deliverer of humanity and taught the world about compassion, about forgiveness. No one listened to her."

Jesse shook his head. "She was amazing. She named me after the guy hoping I'd deliver a message like he did… never happened. Apparently his messages were detailed in a larger book called the Bible but we never found a complete version. There was one story I always loved though, about a guy named Samson." Jesse smiled at the memories. "A man who achieved so much but in death did more than he ever could in life. I always liked that message…" Jesse looked up at The Wanderer who was still listening, but now with a sly smile.

"But umm… I'm rambling. The point is I did something that not only broke my mother's heart but ruined the rest of my life, and would have killed me if not for you." Jesse took a deep breathe. "One night when I was 13, me and the guys found a bighorn ranch in the Mojave. We were tripping on psycho and attacked the ranch. For no reason. But that's not the worst part." Jesse looked away from Perry. "There was a man and a woman. The guys beat the man until he was spitting blood. But the woman… I was a virgin at that point. The guys held her down and told me to change that."

Jesse dropped his head in shame. "And I did. With the man being forced to watch every second of it." Perry could hear the regret in every word of Jesse's confession, and felt sorry for him. "About a year later our gang was attacked. I managed to get away but the weird thing was it was only one guy who took us all out. My mother included. Turns out it was the Rancher who did it. What I had done the year before had resulted in the Rancher's wife getting a child. She died from the birth. I assume he left the child in someone's care and then came after us for revenge. I don't know what happened to the kid, but I'd hate to think what he'd do if he found me."

Jesse paused and took another deep breathe. "The Rancher got his revenge. But the one who killed his wife, the one who got away was his ultimate prize. I grew up constantly on the run. I got a job as a courier, was suitable as I just had to go from one place to the next just like I wanted. Not long ago he managed to find me by taking up the same job as a courier. So I did what I always did, I ran. I never learnt this guy's name, only that he wears a jacket with the American flag on his back."

Jesse frowned and looked up at Perry. "What happened next you can guess. I went to the one place I didn't think anyone else would ever follow. The Divide, a place along The Lonesome Road. But he caught me and got his revenge… and then you come along. I don't know how or why, but I owe you everything for it. And that's it, that's the whole story of my pathetic life."

The Wanderer looked at Jesse and didn't move for a while. But eventually he slowly got up, walked over and put his hand on Jesse's shoulder. The Wanderer pointed at his own chest, at his own heart and then pointed at Jesse's. With a smile, he walked away and lay down on the ground to sleep.

Confused and unsure of The Wanderer's message, Jesse lay down on his side of the camp. He didn't know what his story would do to The Wanderer's view of him, but by confessing it he felt his own view of himself was no longer as harsh. By letting it out, by telling someone who he really was, he could know himself through his own words. And despite the violence he's done, despite the uncertainty of his future, Jesse felt better and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: I'll be honest, the inevitable release of the Lonesome Road DLC has got me rushing to finish this story before it's out. I just know whatever history the courier and Ulysses has together would be far more interesting than what I came up with so I'm hoping to wrap this up soon. That's right, this is almost over. Stay tuned and remember to comment. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. **


	19. One Last Stop

A good night's sleep can fix many ailments not limited to exhaustion. More than once the companions had noticed simple injuries fixing themselves in the time it takes to sleep through a single night. But there's one thing sleep cannot fix; the workings of the outside world. As the Wanderer and the Courier rested, one monster from their past travelled further away while another drew ever closer. But distance means nothing when the person means so much, and meaning with history will always draw people together so long as they both exist. Perry knew this, so long as he lived Fawkes would follow but not as he did before.

Perry didn't know what Fawkes will do once he finds them; he guessed the mindless creature he had become didn't know either. After the slaughter at Noah the creature must have craved for home. Perhaps it followed the path back to Washington, back to the familiar. But home is not a place, home is found in the familiar of friends and family; what family did Fawkes have if not Perry? In his sleep Perry would toss and turn, in his nightmares he watched Fawkes transform into the hideous monster over and over. Sometimes he was in his cage, sometimes he was on the floor, and sometimes he was swimming in that vat with him. But no matter where he was, Perry could not move. Only watch.

Perry sat up with start. Sweating and breathing heavily, he looked around the camp and the horizon. The sun was barely rising but that was already too late for him. They had to move, he didn't know if hiding was an option but running is at least a temporary solution. Bringing up his Pipboy he zoomed out the map and checked for any nearby structures. All yesterday he had been attempting to connect his Pipboy to an ancient GPS satellite, hoping that doing so could give him and Jesse a better idea of what lay ahead. He at last succeeded.

The often blank map blazed with information and markers. Smiling to himself, Perry scanned ahead along the road. To his surprise a long abandoned military airbase was a few hours walk from them. They had travelled further than he thought. He read the name of the airbase and shrugged; _Area 51._ He didn't know why such a base would need to be labelled with numbers instead of a proper name but it was better than nothing. He set a marker on the base and then walked over to Jesse.

He pushed Jesse's shoulder trying to wake him up. Snapping around Jesse grabbed Perry's arm, both of them suddenly on high alert. Neither moved. Once the initial shock wore off, they looked at each other and smiled. Jesse then burst out laughing while Perry laughed but in a silent, dry fashion. He couldn't remember the last time he had a reason to laugh; his lungs had almost forgotten the sensation. Once the high had worn off and the awkward chuckling began Perry helped Jesse get to his feet.

"Heading off already, hey?" Jesse arched his back and yawned. "Well early bird gets the worm… whatever a worm is." They gathered up their possessions and continued their journey. They would stop every now and again at a gas station to loot the small building for whatever rotten food and filthy water they could find. Once or twice Perry thought he saw a small furry creature in the dirt but it would scurry away before he got a good look at it. He missed the feel of fur, holding the smaller animals of Noah always brought him comfort in that confusing place.

After a few hours they reached a point where the road arched southwards into the horizon. Perry looked down at his Pipboy and noticed his marker was telling him to keep going North-west. Jesse was already ahead walking south but Perry stopped. Noticing the sound of only one person walking Jesse stopped as well and turned to look at the Wanderer standing in the middle of the road.

"What's wrong?" He asked, almost forgetting The Wanderer couldn't give a coherent answer. The Wanderer glanced at his Pipboy then back up towards the horizon stretching North-west. He pointed in that direction and urged Jesse to follow. This time Perry walked off the road ahead of his companion, but not hearing the sound of his fellow's footsteps he stopped and turned around. Jesse stood in place, fear and habit held him tight.

"Out… there?" He asked perplexed. The Wanderer nodded his head. "Listen, there's nothing out there. If we keep following this road we'll eventually find somewhere at least." The Wanderer shook his head and pointed North-west again. "What makes you think there's anything out there?" The Wanderer sighed and approached Jesse. He held up his Pipboy screen to Jesse and pointed out the base he had marked earlier. Reading it aloud Jesse muttered, "Area 51… I've heard rumours of that place. There are old signs all around it warning people to keep out. I've never heard of anyone coming back." Jesse paused and smiled. "But then I've never heard of someone coming back from the Divide either. Alright, lead on."

The journey towards the ancient military base was plagued with frequent hills and dead shrubs. More than once the companions had to walk around a small radioactive pond of nuclear waste. Perry always despised this smell, not just because it made him sick to his stomach. The nuclear waste was the remains of the very material used to destroy the world. It was almost like history itself reminding him of just how flawed humanity was. He once read of a story of a man given wings by his father, his pride and his genius helped him soar higher than any man, up above the clouds and towards the glory of the sun.

But the sun burned his wings away, and then he fell to his death.

Perry needed to stop doing this. He was spending too much time inside his own head, before long he'd be frantically trying to escape it. He focused on his steps and his environment again, but it was always the same sandy hills covered in dead plants. Perry started to wonder if his mind was a prison or a sanctuary.

Jesse noticed a broken down truck resting along the next hill. "Hey Wanderer, feel like having a look?" Perry nodded in response and they made their way towards the wreckage. Once they arrived they examined the rotten label printed on the side. A strange pink animal was resting on the words with a disturbingly human smile. Perry recognised it as a pig, there were dozens of them in Noah before…

Perry shuddered and walked behind the truck to examine the interior. It was closed and despite his best efforts he couldn't pull it open. No doubt the metal had completely rusted. Perry motioned for Jesse to help him, he picked up a rusted metal bar lying in the wreckage and with a nod he jammed it into the bottom of the door while Perry pulled. With a skin-crawling screech the metal gave way and opened up to the trucks interior.

Perry climbed inside and found boxes of preserved food. Meat, dried food, some Nuka Cola bottles and some dirty water. There were some fruit containers but the contents had long since rotted away. Perry gave Jesse a thumbs-up and started to collect the food into a single crate. While he did so, Jesse walked to the front of the truck and examined the driver's seat. Surprisingly, no skeleton remained. Shrugging it off, he rummaged through the glove department.

His hand rested on a familiar shape that made him want to sing with joy. He grabbed it and once he pulled it out breathed a sigh of comfort, at long last a laser pistol. He checked the wiring and batteries, they weren't in the best condition but being in the glove department had protected it against time. He looked under the seats, in the other glove department and even in the seats padding but he couldn't find another battery. He'd have to make every shot count.

He looked up towards the sun and realized they only had a few hours of daylight remaining. Rather than risk walking through the darkness the companions decided to make the truck their temporary shelter. That night, sitting in the trucks storage and eating more food at once than they had in a long time, Jesse told Perry stories of civilisation back west.

"Don't let this desert fool you; there are plenty of towns and people in the west. They mostly sprang up from vaults or tribes. The biggest two are the NCR… oh, that's the New California Republic, and Caesar's legion." Jesse slowly shook his head. "The NCR has some good people in it, ones that are trying to make things better. But the Legion? Man… They do some terrifying shit. Crucifixions, slaughter, slaves and they treat their women like cattle."

Jesse looked out the door of the truck and into the darkness of the outside. "Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't run into the Legion yet. They have towns out East of California but no one in the NCR knows just how far. But then, I guess they try to stay away of places like Area 51. They're a superstitious bunch."

Perry was fascinated that such thriving communities could have grown out in the West. Washington was nothing, just a collection of small towns with no unity or formal government. The Brotherhood of Steel was the closest thing to government in the entire Capital; them and vault 101. He looked down at his pipboy and thought about how frustrating it was he couldn't ask Jesse specific questions. The touchscreen keypad surprisingly lit up on his pipboy and he stared at it for a second. Suddenly the realization made him want to slap himself for not thinking of it sooner. He rapidly typed out a message then motioned for Jesse to come over. When he did, Perry held out his pipboy for Jesse to see.

_You said there are vaults, do people still live in them?_

Jesse read the message and smiled. "You can write on this thing eh? Well that should make our conversation a little less one sided." He chuckled but then shook his head. "The ones I know of have mostly broken down. Don't get me wrong, there's a place called vault city that grew out of a vault, but for the most part people have stopped living in them." Perry nodded then typed out a new message.

_I've heard of a place called New Vegas, you know it?_

Jesse read the message then nodded. "Everyone knows of Vegas now. The NCR found that place not long ago, never been myself so don't really know what's going on right now." Jesse studied The Wanderer's scarred face and guessed he hadn't seen civilisation in a long time. After saving his life, Jesse decided he'd show him. "Would you like to see Vegas? I'll buy you a beer for saving me. Sound good?" The Wanderer smiled and wrote out a message.

_I'd like that. Thank you._

With full stomachs and a stronger friendship, the companions drifted off to sleep. Jesse dreamt of walking through a white void, carrying a brown box in his hands. He opened the door, where it came from he never asked. The door opened to a pristine casino from New Reno, as dirty and bright as he remembered it. Sitting behind the counter was a woman whose face he couldn't quite see. Like he was forgetting what she looked like even when he was staring straight at her. He walked up and planted the box on the counter like so many times before.

"You ordered… umm, you ordered… what was it you ordered again?" The woman slowly stood up from her floating chair and opened the box. Nothing was inside. "Oh," Jesse said surprised. "Sorry, I thought something was in there."

"It's alright," the woman replied. Her voice had no accent or tone, no discernible word or emotion. It was just there, the meaning clear as day. "We still got what we ordered."

Jesse woke up with a start. Already his dream had faded into memory when he realized something had woken him up. He listened to the silence; a whistle from the wind there, the rustle of a bush here. Nothing out of the ordinary in this desert. But something was still missing. It was quieter than it was earlier. Like something had been cleared away. He leant over and tried to wake up The Wanderer, as he pushed him he noticed his pipboy had a display of his body condition and general health. But above the cheerful vault-boy picture was a name.

"Perry?" He whispered.

"PAR-RAY!" The walls of the truck shook with the force of the scream. The Wanderer, who Jesse now knew as Perry, leapt up covered in sweat. He ran to the door and tried to shut it as best he could. The floor rumbled with the sound of powerful footsteps. Something was coming. Something massive.

"What the fuck is that?" Jesse screamed as they pulled the metal doors shut. With a few inches left to pull down Jesse realized he didn't have his laser pistol with him. He abandoned the door and Perry to search for it. Perry desperately looked back having no idea what Jesse was doing.

_What the hell does he think he's doing? If we don't get this door closed… oh god, Fawkes, what happened to you?_

With an other-worldly roar the creature outside thrust his claws into the truck, tearing the metal apart like tinfoil. The companions instinctively ducked. Jesse was still searching frantically for the pistol while Perry just tried to hold on for dear life. The creature screamed again, "PAR-RAY!" The whole truck shook from beneath.

"It's picking us up!" Jesse shouted in disbelieve. The truck lifted off the ground, the entire contents of the truck flew around the truck in frenzy, smashing against Perry as he tried to hold the door closed as best he could. Jesse lost balance as the truck lifted up and fell onto his back. To his shock and relief, the laser pistol fell out of nowhere onto his chest. He fumbled with the handle trying to grab the trigger properly with his finger.

With a terrifying screech the sound of metal being torn apart fill their ears, they ground their teeth from the painful noise. The roof was ripped off and a creature hidden by darkness was looking down at them. Perry looked up at it, up towards his lost friend and greatest failure. The creature breathed a stench of a thousand dead corpses and eyes that glowed green through the darkness. For Perry, they were the eyes of judgement.

For Jesse, they were targets.

Without waiting or taking the time to aim, he fired his laser pistol at the glowing, green targets. His shot was perfect. The creature roared in pain, suddenly gravity gave way and the companions felt themselves lift off the ground; but only for a moment. They slammed into the floor and felt the truck almost roll down the side of the hill. Luckily, it stayed in place. Sore from the blow, they stood up and quickly ran out the newly opened door. Even in darkness they could see the creature thrashing around, its body covered in hideous spikes, its hands covering its eyes.

Without waiting, they ran into the darkness. The companions had no idea where they were going and they were in too much of a rush to pick up the supplies they found. But none of that mattered; all that mattered was getting away from this creature as quickly as possible. But in their haste the companions failed to notice a warped and rusted sign in the darkness. Most of the letters had worn away but some words still remained.

_Keep out. Government property: Area 51._

* * *

**A/N: Well my faithful readers, I've got one last chapter left for this story. 20 Chapters is pretty good considering I had no idea what I wanted to do with this story when I started. Admittedly they're not long chapters but I always find long chapters difficult to read myself. The Lonesome Road comes out on the 20th of September and I plan to finish my last chapter before then. I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter and please stay tuned. **

**Comments and criticisms are always appreciated.**


	20. Revelations 21:6

The companions ran through the darkness, moonlight their only guide, the sound of the others boots their only comfort. So long as they stayed together they could see this through, or at least that is what they told themselves. They never spoke to each other as they ran; the only sound they made was their heavy breathing and yelps of pain if they ran into something sharp. More than once Perry tripped and collapsed on the ground. Jesse would immediately stop and help him up. He was not going to abandon the only friend he's had in years, not now or ever.

After almost an hour of running through the darkness they approached a mangled and rusted metal fence that spread far into the distance. Jesse leapt onto the fence and began climbing up. He reached the top and extremely carefully etched his way over the barbed wiring. He landed on the ground; he groaned from the force of impact and his own exhaustion but slowly stood up again. Perry watched the whole thing, while he did the distant sounds of his lost companion reached his ears. He didn't know how long it would take for Fawkes to catch up; all he could think was how were they going to get out of this?

Jesse looked at Perry through the fence, "Come on! Climb over already." Perry stayed in place. He looked down at his mangled body and broken armour. He could feel the skin that had fused with the metal; he couldn't take it off him if he tried. There was no way he could climb over this fence with this weight holding him down. He shook his head.

"You got a better idea Mr Wanderer?" Jesse asked sarcastically. Perry looked left and right along the fence, his only option was the hope there may be an entrance somewhere, he just had to find it. He pointed to his left and then at himself. He then pointed at Jesse then to the distant images beyond him. Jesse looked behind him and studied the dark silhouettes of the ancient base. They must have arrived at this Area 51.

"You sure it's such a good idea to split up? How will I find you?" Perry smiled and tapped his Pipboy, he then tapped his right ear, Jesse had no idea what that meant but decided it's best not to argue. The longer they spent here the less time they had to escape that _thing_ that was chasing them.

"Alright, I'll admit I have no idea what you mean by that, but I'm going to trust you. We'll get out of this okay?" Jesse wasn't sure if he was trying to encourage Perry or himself. Perry just pointed at his own heart, smiled, and then ran to his left along the fence into the darkness. Jesse wasted no more time, he turned around and sprinted towards the ancient base. He hated being apart from The Wanderer at a time like this, but least he could scout the base by the time they met up again.

After only a few minutes of running through the sandy, plant covered wilderness the ground suddenly felt flat and artificial. Jesse had found concrete so the base mustn't be far off. He couldn't see much in the moonlit darkness, only vague shapes of broken trucks, scattered crates and lots of skeletons. He stopped running at this point and allowed himself to regain his breathe. He planted his hand on his chest and breathed in then out until he could at least feel his heartbeat slowing down. With a final sharp breathe he straightened up and walked on. He drew his laser pistol and searched the darkness, weapon at the ready. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he studied his environment.

Stretching parallel to the line of buildings was a road, far too long for any purpose Jesse could think up and completely lacking any start or end. Whatever drove along this slice of road Jesse couldn't fathom. He then turned around and walked towards the closest building to him. It was massive, spreading a hundred metres away and higher than any building he had ever seen. The seclusion of this base must have protected it from the bombs. The place was completely dead, there was no movement save for the flapping of meaningless flags. Jesse looked up at the old world flag and shuddered; it brought back memories of the Rancher and reignited his fears.

_No! Focus you idiot. Look around, see if there's anything you and Perry can use on that monster. This is an army base, there must be something. _

The building he approached looked like an enormous warehouse, its doors slightly apart and whistling in the wind. Jesse hated that sound; it spoke to the primal part of his consciousness, the part of the human mind still alive from when humans fought with sticks and rocks. The doors were the entrance to a cave, the whistling was the breathing of a predator waiting for him to enter. He had to fight his instincts, the world is dead, and this base is abandoned. Just enter, there's nothing there.

Jesse covered to the left of the door and peered sideways into the warehouse. He couldn't see a thing inside; the light from the moon couldn't help him. He gulped and walked through the doors. He couldn't see a damn thing, his hands shaking from fear even with his pistol in his grasp. There was something in here, there must be, he's dead, he's so damn dead, what was he thinking, he was going to be ripped apart while still alive, his eyes would go first, then his limbs would be pulled apart, he'd have to watch himself be devoured, he…

Jesse rapidly backed up towards the entrance still facing into the darkness; his fears plagued his mind and forced his retreat. He suddenly felt himself hit the wall slightly to the right of the entrance. Something poked him in the back and he screamed in surprise. Suddenly the lights in the warehouse all slowly blazed to life, with hundreds of years of effort the power returned and revealed a completely empty warehouse stretching to all the walls.

Not a single thing was there except for the frightened courier and the light switch he pressed.

"Oh," He said to himself. "Well then… next warehouse."

* * *

Perry ran along the fence, every dent and protruding spike rushing past him. He didn't know how far it would be to some sort of entrance to this thing but there must be one… somewhere. Perry ran for twenty minutes along the fence. He didn't know how far Fawkes would be behind them, and running sideways isn't a tactful method of escaping your predator. But at long last, a small security checkpoint was revealed. A car was parked in the middle of the opened gate, surprisingly more luxurious than any ancient vehicle he ever encountered. Admittedly it was still rusted, beyond repair and plain useless but at one point he could tell it was meant for someone important.

Perry didn't waste time examining the car though and instead searched the security checkpoint for any signs of weapons. To his annoyance he found a weapon crate that only had ammunition to a gun he couldn't find, rendering them useless. He frowned and instead ran along the road towards the distant buildings. His legs were beginning to scream at him for a rest, but there was no time, at least not out here in the open. He begged his body to hold on until he could get inside, he's dealt with worse, he can make it. He must make it. Oh dear god he hoped he could make it.

The desert night was freezing his brow, the sweat on his face felt like small ice drops as they escaped his mangled skin. Perry couldn't tell if the cool air was hindering or helping his progress. He was just so exhausted of this. He thought to himself how often he felt that. The exhaustion, the effort, the continuing drive to live and do… what? Something inside him was always pushing him onwards but really, what was the point? What difference would it make if he just fell over dead now instead of later?

Perry stopped running and started jogging; he then slowed and finally stood in place. What difference would it make if he died? He thought about that question. He then thought about Jesse, about The Stranger, about his journey, and then finally about his life back in Washington. He spent so long looking for his dad; he poured every fibre of his being into helping the Capitol Wasteland get a chance at becoming something great. If at any point he believed that train of thought, that nothing he did made a difference and he might as well drop dead, then he would have failed absolutely. But he didn't, and look what he accomplished.

He couldn't give up. Not now, not ever. He started running again towards the base. He let himself know it's okay to feel these doubts, that no one ever believes absolutely in what they do. What mattered was that he did it for the right reasons. Even a presence can do so much to a life and the world. He didn't know what the future held but the only way to find out was to jump straight in.

Feeling like his old self again, Perry sprinted to the base and approached the nearest warehouse. He noticed that along the row of warehouses, all of them except the one he was standing in front of had the lights on. Thinking little of it, he stood at the mouth of the entrance and got his breathe back. Once his blood wasn't pounding in his ears or his breathing wasn't loud enough to wake the dead he closed his eyes and listened to the silence. He searched for any sound of stomping feet or roaring in the distance. He couldn't hear anything. A little unnerved by the silence he decided to try and find Jesse, the only way he knew how.

Perry held up his Pipboy and, like he did at the Megaton meeting so long ago, activated the extremely loud ringing that made him cringe. His Pipboy made the high pitched tone for a full ten seconds before the noise was beginning to frighten him and shut it off. The silence was as deafening as the noise. To his relief a familiar head popped out the entrance of the warehouse next along the row. Jesse noticed Perry standing in front of the next warehouse, no doubt the source of that terrifying noise he heard inside, and waved.

Jesse then left his most recently explored, and again empty, warehouse to reunite with Perry. His expression of relief was clear as day to Perry, even in the dim light.

"Man, it is good to see you again. I guess that's what you meant with the whole ear thing right?" Perry smiled and tapped what remained of his nose. "But I tell you, it's the strangest thing. I've looked through all of those warehouses and they're all completely empty. Maybe this place wasn't so important after all?" Perry stroked what remained of his chin and thought. He typed out a message on his Pipboy and held it out for Jesse to read.

_That wouldn't make sense. There was an official looking car at the entrance. _

Jesse read it and shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you." They both frowned and considered the implications. With nothing here that meant there were no weapons to defend themselves if Fawkes catches up. Both of them shuddered at the same time. Perry then looked at the entrance to the final warehouse and pointed at it.

"Sure, why not?" Jesse muttered. "Five-hundred caps say's it's empty like the others."

They entered the warehouse, neither able to see a single thing. Perry could hear the steps of Jesse in the darkness as he seemed to be looking for something. There was a noise and the lights began to blink to life, lighting up the entire warehouse. Like every time before, there was not a single thing inside except for the companions.

"That'll be five-hundred caps once we get to Vegas thank you."

Perry wasn't convinced though. Something smelt fishy and it wasn't just their body odour. He stroked his scarred chin and pondered. Why would there be power running through this place if nothing was here? Most importantly, why would there be someone official visiting this place, no doubt this has stayed the same since the bombs dropped and the car must have been there when that happened; so why visit?

He walked forwards into the empty warehouse, not really sure what he was doing. As his armoured boots stepped on the metal floor the sound reverberated back to him. Step after step the sound left and returned. He walked towards the centre of the warehouse and was just about to turn and leave. Suddenly the sound of his step was different. Perry froze. He looked down and stomped the floor again. There was that same tone, slightly deeper than the ones before. He turned around and stomped again. Yes, there was definitely a difference!

Jesse watched all this in complete confusion. To him it just looked like Perry was trying to squash some nasty radroaches using only his shoes.

"Err… Perry, there aren't any bugs there… in case, you know, you were wondering." The Wanderer was now on his knees dusting the floor with his hands. "Okay, I think that Salisbury Steak we had earlier has gone to your head. Come on, let's get out of here before that freak shows up." Perry stood up from his knees and looked around the warehouse. There must be something here, he could tell. But there was nothing besides himself, Jesse and that light switch…

The light switch!

Perry sprinted past Jesse to the latter's astonishment. He grabbed the light switch panel and tore off the outer casing. Jesse wasn't quite sure what Perry was doing and simply watched over his shoulder. Perry examined the wiring and the circuitry of the panel and knew this control did more than just turn the light on and off. But he could see no other sign of control besides just the switch. Perry stared at the panel; it felt like it was mocking him with its secrets. Jesse on the other hand couldn't care less about the stupid switch and only wanted to get out quickly.

Jesse strolled towards the door and shouted over his shoulder, "Most busted electronics work if you switch them on and off, if you think that switch will stop time then be my guest."

Perry's eyes shot open in realisation. Jesse disappeared around the door but Perry knew what he had to do. He rapidly flipped the switch up and then down. Off and on. Somewhere behind him something collided. There was rumbling beneath his feet as he felt ancient machines roar to life. Jesse ran back inside expecting to see that monster. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of the metal floor sliding apart, slowly but surely. Once the metal slid across far enough, something was raised up from the darkness.

The companions stood in awe as an enormous, Frisbee shaped ship rose out of the floor. It was held up by metal supporters beneath it and completely covered in dust and dirt. The front part looked damaged like it had collided with something head-on. The platform continued to rise up until the ship almost touched the roof. The platform eventually levelled with the floor and stopped, the companions then noticed three tables covered in bizarre looking technology the likes of which only one of them had ever seen.

Jesse stared in utter shock while Perry only smiled. He slowly typed out a single message on his Pipboy and held it in front of Jesse's frozen face.

_500 caps was it?_

* * *

Fawkes sniffed the air, one eye closed in pain, his spikes shivered in the breeze. His home was close, the scent remained. He followed it to a metal barrier and stepped over it like it was nothing more than a patch of grass. In the distance he could see a light. The scent of home wafted from it. He approached the light like a beacon, but he did not run. The predator inside him would not allow him to give away his location. He stalked his home, careful and patient like a true hunter should be.

* * *

While Jesse attempted to unfreeze himself, Perry decided to examine the alien technology for anything he could recognise as useful. When he approached the table he stretched out his hand to pick up the closest gadget. Suddenly, every object blazed to life. An eerie blue light radiated from them as the once dusty and inactive looking devices began to hum and glow. Perry shielded his eyes while the flash blazed in front of him.

* * *

The light changed. Fawkes stopped. It was no longer bright and pure; the light was different somehow. But he recognised it. A part of his mind remembered this colour; he must have truly found his home! He quickened his pace; he must not lose it… not again.

* * *

The light dimmed but the hum never ceased. Perry lowered his hand and examined the devices. They were all glowing, but he asked himself why they would do this when he approached. Perry wasn't sure how, but the technology must have reacted to his memories of such technology. A defence mechanism perhaps so those who don't recognise them could use them? Whatever the case, this was a gift and they must cherish this find.

Jesse meanwhile just stared at Perry's calm examination of… whatever the hell these things were. He looked up at the towering ship and gulped. This was the strangest thing he had ever seen, but why hadn't anyone else found this yet? Then again, it wasn't hidden in plain sight and most treasure seekers were as blunt as roofing tiles. He slowly approached the table next to Perry and looked at the wonders spread across them. Crystals, guns, and devices he couldn't even describe. He looked at Perry and saw in his eyes that he was familiar with these things.

"You… you've seen these before?" Jesse asked him. Perry turned towards him, smiled and nodded. He then reached onto the table and picked up a small disc-like device with lights covering it and symbols Jesse didn't recognise glowing on the surface. Perry knew them though; they were symbols he had seen on the alien ship years ago. Jesse looked down towards the table and found a small orb, completely featureless and safe. Deciding not to touch anything glowing he picked up the small orb and examined it himself.

Unknown to either of the companions, one of them had picked up his life, while the other picked up his death.

Suddenly the small orb in Jesse's hands snapped open, revealing a hidden compartment bearing two short needles. To Jesse they looked like a photo he once saw of a cobra. The comparison was complete when the needles bit down and latched themselves onto Jesse's hands. He screamed in pain and surprise, he shook his hand trying to get the thing off but it wouldn't release him. Perry, with the disc in hand, attempted to calm Jesse. Once he was still but shaking, Perry grabbed the small orb and ripped it off, tossing it to the other side of the room.

"What… was that?" Jesse asked, he was beginning to sound tired, his head throbbed, and the world began to spin around him. He fell to his knees, what the hell was in that thing he asked himself. Perry was starting to panic, his friend had just been injected with something and knowing the aliens that abducted him it can't be anything good. He shook Jesse, hoping to snap him out of his stupor. Suddenly Jesse's eye shot open, he was sweating profusely and his body was shaking. Jesse could feel it, something was changing inside him. From his hand something was spreading through his body. He screamed, he panicked and tried to stop it spreading but it was no good. He screamed louder, he couldn't stop himself.

Perry didn't know what to do; everything had just gone to shit. Then, as if all his nightmares had suddenly birthed into existence, he heard a roar outside the warehouse. His heart felt like it had stopped in his chest. They were out of time, Fawkes had found them. Perry tried his best to pick up Jesse and carry him, but where could they go? It was no use! There was another roar from outside and the sound of something fast approaching; Perry tried to drag Jesse as far away from the incoming beast.

Fawkes burst into the warehouse, his every disgusting feature revealed by the light of the warehouse and the glowing devices. His body was black and hideous; his back completely covered by the spikes and his hands had developed the claws of a monster. His face was contorted in animalistic anger and his teeth were as sharp as knives. His arrival had sent the door spraying ballistic metal everywhere, knocking over the tables and their precious contents.

Fawkes turned to the source of the scent; his primitive mind found only confusion when he realized it was that small creature yet again. It was dragging another creature which was shaking and whimpering in pain. His confusion turned to rage and he charged the small creature, he smashed his hand into the standing one, the force sent him flying to the other side of the room.

The remainder of Perry's armour protected him from the cuts of Fawkes's claws but the blow still knocked the wind out of him. He collided with the wall with the small disc still in hand. Pain and dizziness filled his head but he tried his best to get up. He looked over at Fawkes and saw him looking down at Jesse's shaking form. Suddenly a noise erupted from the alien ship and it blazed to life. A jumble of alien words boomed from the ship, Perry had no idea what it said but as the cannon underneath the ship revealed itself and shot Fawkes in the back he could guess. The ship recognised Fawkes as a hostile life form and was defending itself.

As the energy collided with Fawkes's back it burnt off several of its spikes. The creature roared in pain and fury, the spikes oozed a disgusting green liquid that glowed like his eyes. Fawkes spun around and charged into the ship, it couldn't get another shot off before Fawkes cut it to the ribbons and tore the cannon off. Its fury was a sight to behold as Fawkes made short work of the ship, reducing it to large chunks. With some effort it picked up one of the larger chunks and threw it at the wall behind Jesse, breaking through with a mighty crash and revealing the darkness beyond.

Jesse was starting to regain some control but was still shaking violently, whatever was in his system had completely spread, he could even feel it inside his head. With extreme effort he tried to crawl towards the newly created exit. Perry watched all this then heard the small disc in his hand suddenly beep. He looked down at it in his hand and to his surprise a small button appeared in the centre of the disc. Perry then knew what this was. A memory flashed through his mind, reminding him of something Jesse said not long ago.

_Samson was a man who did more in death than he ever did in life. I always liked that message._

Was there not something he told himself he had to teach Jesse?

_Jesse will help Mr House and when his rule is absolute we will approach him. He will be the face of the future._

No. No, the future must not be built on the failures of the past. They had to let go, humanity had to let go.

_He will teach Jesse the meaning of purpose… and the meaning of sacrifice._

Fawkes had taken his revenge on the ship and was now watching the small creature crawl away. He stepped towards it, Jesse could only keep going. He just reached the hole, but he could smell the creature behind him before he felt him. Fawkes had done this many times now, small creatures trying to escape hopelessly as he drove his claws down into him. He hovered his hand over this fresh one, a single push and it would die…

A high pitched sound rung out across the warehouse. It hurt what remained of Fawkes's ears and he turned to find its source. The other one, it was lying on its stomach and doing something with its arm. Fawkes approached this small creature that smelt of home. Exactly as Perry wanted. The voice of his long dead father whispered through his mind, from a time he could barely remember.

_I am the alpha and omega…_

Fawkes picked up this familiar creature and held it in front of his face. Perry looked into the eyes of his friend and pressed the button on the disc in his hand.

_The beginning…_

The lights begun to turn off one by one. Jesse looked up and saw his friend in the grip of this monster, he was looking directly at it. What was he doing? All Perry did was hope that Fawkes was still alive somewhere inside that shell, and that somehow he could hear his apology.

_And the end._

The earth shook and a bright light enveloped the monster and his captive. For a single moment Jesse looked into the light and saw the silhouettes of the ones inside. They seemed to break apart but he had already turned away from the light before he could see more. The force of the explosion sent him rolling away and he collided with the remaining wall. He shielded his face with his arms until the light vanished and the shaking stopped. Slowly, he removed his arms and saw the only remains were a new hole where the monster and his friend used to be and burning ash drifting through the air.

His body still shaking he managed to stand up and stare, the realization sunk in. His heart suddenly felt five times as heavy, his eyes welled up in tears. His friend, Perry… was gone.

* * *

The sun stretched her rosy red fingers across the Mojave Desert, in this land her touch spread further than it could in Washington at least for the present time. Her light touched the Courier as he stumbled away from Area 51, it would be hours before he found the road again. He couldn't explain it but he wasn't tired, he wasn't hungry, he wasn't even that thirsty. He felt his muscles and couldn't remember them being this big. Wounds he had sustained during the night were already starting to heal. Even his skin felt slightly different.

Jesse would never know that the serum injected into his body had increased his endurance, strength and regeneration but it would save his life and his brain in the not too distant future.

He didn't know what he was going to do now. Without Perry he had nothing left, what was he thinking giving his life like that? But he did, he gave his life for Jesse. He would always think of that moment, how someone in this shithole of a world thought he was worth saving, worth dying for. Was he really worth it though? Perry thought so, and he was smarter than the average wastelander. He knew not to judge the warehouse by first appearances, he knew what that technology was; Perry was something else.

Maybe he saw something in Jesse, saw something worth saving. Jesse clenched his fist at the memory and knew he had to make the most of Perry's sacrifice. He looked out to the road and saw a figure in the distance approaching slowly. He backed off the road and waited for it to reach him. When it was close enough he could make out the image of a caravan being drawn by a Brahmin and a crazy looking old man sitting on the caravan guiding it. Once it reached him the old man pulled on the ropes and stopped the caravan. He looked down at Jesse and examined his ripped clothes and sunburnt skin.

"Well, looky here Winona, we gots us a wastelander lost out in the 'ilderness. Wats you doing out here strangar?" The man asked in a overly enthusiastic way.

"I'm just… lost." Jesse answered, unsure of the man before him.

"Well watcha doing getting lost? Not good for the ol' noggin. Me and Winona here are heading to Primm, south of New Vegas, you want to stay lost sonny, or come with?" Jesse thought about the man's offer. He needed to find work if he was to make the most of Perry's sacrifice. He knew what he would do, he'll find work until he can get the money to enter New Vegas, then he would buy that beer he owed Perry and drink to his memory. Yes, that will be a good start.

Jesse looked at the old man and nodded. "Yes, please. I do appreciate the ride."

"Not a worry sonny. Hop in the back and let's get moving!" Jesse did as he was told and jumped onto the back of the caravan as it began its journey to Primm. If someone had been watching the caravan from afar, they would have noticed a man in a trench coat appearing seemingly out of thin air once the caravan was gone. The man's coat flapped in the desert breeze, his body remaining still. He then pulled out a radio device and spoke into it.

"Reporting." He said simply. A voice then rang out of the device that spoke of a hundred years of experience.

"What's the situation?"

"The kid is dead. Blew himself up to kill the freak." Only static rang out from the device in his hands. "Sir? What should we do if Perry is gone?" There was silence for a few more seconds while the figure on the other end pondered.

"It can't be helped. Continue helping the Courier but be discreet. We don't want him knowing about us or that might force a rebellion." The Stranger wasn't so sure about this now.

"Do you really think he'll help Mr House now? Without Perry to guide him he might do something we don't want."

"Are you questioning my orders, agent?" The voice responded threateningly.

"No, sir. I'll do as you ordered, sir. Reporting out." The radio clicked off and The Stranger stood in silence. Things weren't meant to happen like this. Without their ace to control they could only roll the dice on Jesse. Everything depended on his choice now.

* * *

Jesse rode the elevator in the Lucky 38 up to the penthouse. He wore Benny's plaid suit and was flicking his lighter's lid off and on. It was a habit he developed ever since he came into possession of this lighter; helped him keep his cool. This was the moment of truth, after everything that had happened, everything he had seen and learnt _this_ would be the moment that changes everything.

The doors slid apart as the penthouse was opened to him. He had seen this plenty of times before as he did House's bidding but now was the time to turn the tables. He walked past the securitrons and past House's flickering image. His voice rang out from the speakers and addressed the courier.

"Jesse? It should have taken you four days to reach the Brotherhood of Steel bunker and return, what are you doing back here so soon?" Jesse just ignored the giant face that spoke to him. "Jesse? Answer me this instant!"

Jesse approached the monitor on the wall next to the bookcases and began typing on the keyboard. "Sorry House," he spoke aloud. "I've had a change of heart. This is a gift from your dear brother Anthony." Jesse inserted the data file into the monitor and watched with a smirk as the face of Mr House disappeared and the wall slid apart. There was no alarm, no reaction from the securitrons. Jesse breathed a small sigh of relief, the kill-switch Mr House's brother kept in his factory worked perfectly, though he admitted that for an instant he thought it wouldn't.

He casually strolled through the newly revealed doorway and entered the elevator. He clicked the button marked sub-basement and waited as the elevator lowered him down into the heart of the Lucky 38. Even now, here at the moment of truth he had doubts. Had it really come to this? Taking that job in Primm as an easy ticket to New Vegas not so long ago; it was going to be his last courier job before he found something more worthwhile. He was going to drink to Perry's sacrifice in the walls of New Vegas, and he did many times even now. He told his new friends of The Lone Wanderer while they drank and relaxed in his Penthouse, he loved those times.

But he has to do more than drink to make Perry's sacrifice mean something. Perry gave his life for Jesse, he showed him what it meant to let go of everything to do what you believe is right. He would do the same. The elevator door opened to an enormous black room, filled with machinery.

_This is the heart of Vegas, dark and dirty while lights promise freedom and prosperity. If Mr House really did preserve the spirit of Vegas, than the old one must have been as bad as it is now. _

Jesse strolled along the catwalk to the glowing tomb before him. Beneath the glass he could see the movement of something ancient but he didn't approach for a closer look. Instead, he typed the release command on the monitor and watched in fascination as the dried up remains of Mr House was placed before him.

"You… fool!" The corpse said to him. "Why… do this?" Jesse smirked; he had rehearsed this a thousand times a day in his head.

"Same reason as you, Mr House. For the future."

"Idiot!... I was… to build the future!"

"I know, sir," Jesse responded mockingly. "But you would have failed. Because you forgot something. You wanted to build the new world on the back of the old. Did you ever look out into the wastes? All this is the result of the Old World!" Jesse paused. He had to show Mr House he was wrong, only then could he claim victory.

"You want to build the future, but only these people know how to make it work. They have to decide it, not you, not the NCR, not the Legion and certainly not me. Humanity has to save itself or we'll keep making the same mistakes over and over. I believe in the NCR but they have to lose before they can grow. All the laziness is a result of their size and success and I'm going to make sure they fail, but they will be strong enough to build and be even better than before."

Jesse paused. He reached into his side pocket and pulled out Maria, the very gun used to shoot him in the brain almost a month ago. He never figured out why he lived from that, but his body had become so resilient since his journey with Perry. Maybe he imparted more gifts than just knowledge.

"You've lost Mr House, the Old World is gone. Today marks the birth of a New World. And if you're wondering why I would do as you asked for so long, let me repeat what a recent friend said to me not long ago." Jesse rose his arm up and aimed directly at Mr House's disgusting face.

"The game was rigged from the start."

**The End**

* * *

**A/N: And that ladies and gentlemen is a wrap. I sure hope you've enjoyed reading this fan fiction as much as I did writing it. Once my assessment clears up from university I plan to start writing a new story focusing on the life of Alexa, Perry's daughters in the Capitol. It'll be called 'Isolation: Legacy' so either keep an eye out or place me on your author alert list if that sounds like something you'd want to read. **

**If there was any part of my story that may have confused you a bit and you want a better explanation to clear it up, feel free to message me or leave a comment with your question, I'll always respond.**

**A big thank you for everyone who has left a comment for my story as you guys have really helped push me to keep writing this story and to have confidence in my own skills. I would please ask though that you spread this story around as getting a few hits once this fades into the obscurity of the internet would always be nice. **

**If I take too long to get 'Isolation: Legacy' started feel free to send a message scolding me for it, that will probably get me working on it faster. Thanks again to all my readers, you all rock!**


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